Story Photos
 For every pair of TOMS shoes (short for "Shoes for Tomorrow") he sells, designer Blake Mycoskie donates a pair to someone in need. On Wednesday, Mycoskie and volunteers traveled from their Santa Monica, Calif., headquarters to South Africa to distribute 50,000 pairs of shoes. Here, TOMS (and Tiny TOMS, far left) in various fabrics and colors ($38 to $68). Illustrates SHOPPER-SHOES (category l), by Cory Ohlendorf © 2007, The Washington Post. Moved Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007. (MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Bill O'Leary.)
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The sole of an idealist
Monday, November 12, 2007 7:55 AM PST
By Washington Post
Printable version
E-mail this articleThis is a story about a fashion altruist. Never heard of such a thing? Well, meet Blake Mycoskie, a young entrepreneur and former "Amazing Race" contestant.
When the enterprising Texan took a vacation in Argentina 18 months ago, he was struck by two things: the simple style of the alpargata, a traditional Argentine rope-soled shoe, and the absence of shoes of any kind among the adults and children in a village he visited.
"The story sounds cheesy, but I had this vision," Mycoskie says. "That I'd start a shoe company, and for each pair sold, a pair would be given to someone in need." And that's just what happened. They'd be "Shoes for Tomorrow" (TOMS for short).
Mycoskie, now based in Santa Monica, Calif., updated his version with a flip-flop bottom for comfort and a luxe leather insole (the same Argentine leather used by Salvatore Ferragamo). He offered more than two dozen styles.
The shoes were quickly adopted by the fashion pack, and the original batch of 250 he hoped to sell surpassed 10,000 in less than a year. As promised, Mycoskie and friends returned to Argentina and distributed the shoes to various villages.
This week, Mycoskie landed in South Africa for the second shoe drop mission -- with more than 50,000 TOMS to donate.
Philanthropic mission aside, the shoe's effortless styling recently received the Cooper-Hewitt People's Design Award.
His basic canvas style has been upgraded for fall, with burlap, corduroy and suede. "I love those," Mycoskie says. "Because even when it's cold, you can wear them without socks." After all, what guy in fashion is wearing socks now, anyway?
Product info: TOMS (and Tiny TOMS for kids) in various fabrics and colors: $38 to $68, available at Nordstrom, Macy's and Urban Outfitters stores and Tomsshoes.com. (See Web site for other store locations.)
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