Photo: PR
Wear toms and do good
The colorful espadrilles by Toms Shoes from California show great styling and best intentions: for each pair sold, one goes to a disadvantaged child.
He is a genuine Texas businessman. But instead of JR Ewing suit and cowboy hat, Blake Mycoskie wears jeans and three days beard. And is also damn sympathetic - tells bright, laughs a lot and proclaimed proudly by the way, that he will be dad for the first time in November. On his feet (well, clear): Tom's sneaker.
With his shoe label Toms Shoes, Mycoskie has launched a unique business model: "One for One". That is, for each pair of shoes sold, the company donates a pair of "toms" to needy children.
The idea came to Mycoskie when he traveled through Argentina in 2006 and saw how many families could not afford shoes for their children: "I wanted to help, but not just found a donation organization."
Over the past eight years, the company has distributed more than 15 million pairs of shoes. And made Blake Mycoskie a pioneer in sustainable business and fair working conditions. "You have to decide: you save on production costs or you demand more for the finished product, " says the 37-year-old. Therefore shoes cost his company about 50 euros. And for that you even buy two pairs: one for yourself - and one for a good cause. All " Toms " models on www.shoptoms.de .
