Brand Spotlight: TOMS Shoes
Happy 10 Year Anniversary to a brand that started with the desire to “pay it forward.” Founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, TOMS Shoes has grown from humble beginnings in a Venice Beach, California apartment, to an empire in the shoe game. Wanting to help in his own way, Mycoskie created TOMS Shoes on the basis that the company “would match every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes for a child in need. One for One ®.” The business was built on one design; the classic Argentinian alpargata-inspired canvas slip-on. Now, TOMS offers a variety of styles like Oxfords or wedges, and design for men, women, and children. The company has also branched out to help provide clean drinking water, medical assistance for vision, and even aide for the availability of safer births worldwide. To-date, TOMS has given away over 60 million pairs of shoes to children around the globe and operates in over 75 countries.
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Recently, TOMS teamed up with AT&T and unveiled a new virtual reality project that immerses you in world that showcases the company’s “one for one” motto. Called “A Walk In Their Shoes,” the project follows the journey of one Toms customer from California as he travels to Colombia to meet a child that benefits directly from his purchase. Senior VP of Brand Marketing at AT&T, Fiona Carter says, “”What we love about this is that it’s a really immersive way to experience the impact that buying one pair of Toms shoes can have, in this case on one boy in Colombia. It’s a powerful way to show how to make a difference in the world.” Toms and AT&T are also giving away 100,000 Google Cardboard VR viewers with Toms purchases.
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Just this week, TOMS Shoes held their #withoutshoes social media campaign. On May 10, TOMS pledged to donate one pair of shoes to a child in need for every photo of bare feet posted on Instagram. The goal is to gift 10,000 pairs of brand new shoes to children in 10 different countries. To honor the event, TOMS also designed a limited-edition 10-year anniversary women’s shoe.
A post shared by TOMS (@toms) on May 10, 2016 at 5:07am PDT
Feeling charitable? Visit Karmaloop.com to check out their selection of the hottest TOMS sellers. You’ll not only support the cause, but look good doin’ so.
$59
$98
$79