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ABOUT SMOOCHIES
We are a business conceived and run by women. We share a love of travel, nature, food and culture and support responsible consumerism. In our first collection we hope we have retained the vibrancy, comfort and quality that first made us fall in love with Balinese shoes. We are excited to share them with you.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Our business philosophy is the same as our approach to the rest of our life. We believe business is always a work in progress and that long term relationships require all parties to benefit from the process or it cannot last. It’s easy - do unto others as you would like them to do to you.
We got into this business because we thought the impact of covid was extra hard on the Balinese who had no government support. We imagined we might be able to help them as we had always liked their products for many years. We knew our impact would be modest, at best, but our only objective was to improve the livelihoods of a small number of people by putting them back to work. We are confident that our selection of shoemakers does not involve any working under duress but we are sure they would like to earn more money. Hopefully we can deliver on this if the rest of our business assumptions are correct. We will behave honestly and set ourselves goals but not over-promise as so many companies do.
Dear All,
Carolin and I met in South East Asia in 2009 while working in the cocoa supply chain. We discovered our “must have” purchases on our breaks in Bali were identical – the handmade leather shoes that somehow over time took on the affectionate name of Smoochies. Our collections grew with each visit. To us they were more than just a shoe. They were emblematic of Bali – artistic and colourful like the warm and cheerful people – and, above all, comfortable.
As we fast forward to early summer 2021, pandemic related restrictions have had differing effects on daily life. Although we were unable to visit Bali, our frequent phone calls with friends kept our relationships intact. The normally bustling island was deserted as all hotels and many shops had been shut for a year. With most of its income generated by tourism, the shutdown had brought about a dramatic change to the economic landscape. In Bali, there was no government financial support program to cushion the blow for the unemployed. Feeling somewhat helpless we commiserated and reminisced over the good old days with our struggling Bali based friends. And suddenly the idea for “Smoochies” was born.
We wanted to be able to help support the individuals and communities that had welcomed us so warmly. Could we introduce the shoes to an overseas audience to provide some work for local people? We recognized that it is one thing to produce 2 or 3 shoes for sale more or less as “one-offs” in local shops but another to consistently maintain the desired quality on the commercial scale that exports require. Could we find entrepreneurs who were shoe specialists, design in-house, circumvent traditional sales channels and put people back to work? The answer to these questions (yes and yes) was central to our mission and process.
With shops shuttered, we relied on our recall abilities (with a little help from Google maps), and gradually identified where we had previously bought our Smoochies, tracking down the business owners and explaining our ideas. We got them to re-open their workshops, produce samples, and trace specific suppliers to obtain the quality of leather and colours that we needed to fulfil our creative vision.
After months of trials we have partnered with Rai, an energetic Balinese who had previously employed 40 leatherworkers but had lost his business as a result of the pandemic. Our production commenced in late 2021 and enabled Rai to gradually re-employ many of his previous team, some of whom work from home with leather pressed and cut in his workshop.
Support us to give these hardworking, artistic and inspiring people the benefit of a future income that is independent of tourism. Better still, join the creative process, bring us comments and ideas, and help make this project a success story.
Cheers Pam
Meet the Team
