Shoe Stopper

I tried counting how many pairs I’d see in a day out in Mumbai,I totalled a phenomenal 23. This was a Wednesday and all I did was take my son to school,to football class and did some groceries in Colaba market.

The Rokkit is actually a flip flop made by a British company called Fitflop. It has a thick,platform-like sole and the thongs are laden with crystals for a much-needed dose of glamour. At first sight,they resemble yet another ostentatiously ugly offal from the Indian shoemakers Stoffa,but the superb quality and industrial manufacturing can be spotted almost immediately.

So why is this shoe suddenly a woman’s best friend?

Fitflop was started by a former fitness trainer called Marcia

Kilgore who,at 40 and with two kids under five years,realised she had little time to get a workout as she juggled motherhood and a career. She enlisted two biomechanists to create a “Microwobbleboard” midsole that she has patented,and that gives you a

workout when you walk. It also claims to relieve planter foot pain,help reduce backaches,and energise tired legs.

Within weeks of launching — in London in May 2007 — the shoe was a success. Newsweek named the Fitflop sandal the must-have item of that summer. The Independent called it miraculous and Oprah Winfrey — who can sell the proverbial comb to a bald man — put it on her list of Favourite Summer Things (is she serious?). Fitflop has since sold 6 million pairs across the world.

The amazing story here is that the flip flop is the cheapest form of footwear in most developing countries,often costing less than one American dollar. It is especially popular in India and Pakistan (as the humble Bata Hawaii chappal) and in Brazil,where the beaches are filled with the trendy Havaianas thong. It has also been reported that,to reduce costs and to protect the environment— the Y-shaped slipper is now being made from recycled tyres.

Historically,the flip flop was invented in Japan,its traditionally woven version is called the zori. Along the east coast of the US,they’re still called “zories”. Australia calls them “thongs”,New Zealand calls them “jandals”,as in Japanese sandals. South Africa calls them “slip slops” and the South Pacific,simply “go-aheads”. In Greece,they’re called “sayonares”,after the Japanese goodbye,sayonara.

But now,the most basic footwear in the world is a mass fashion phenomenon. The poor man’s slipper has now made one woman very rich and millions of others very happy. All it took was a woman’s entrepreneural skills and one good idea. namratanow@gmail.com