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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 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 will behave honestly and ethically, and not cynically 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. 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.
We then fast forward to early summer 2021. Although we were unable to visit Bali, our frequent phone calls with friends were worrying. 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. But 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 some of 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 our small team of Dana and Anya 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 chance 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
THE SMOOCHIES TEAM
ANJA
is a German national who is a master tailor, trained at a prestigious fashion school in Munich. She has lived in Bali for more than 8 years designing interior furnishings for luxury villas and apartments. She creates the shoes for us and supervises their production as well as staging all the photoshoots and providing artwork.
DANA
is Balinese and has a background in management and logistics. Dana locates and establishes relationships with all our suppliers, manages purchases, coordinates deliveries of leather and ensures all things happen when they should happen.
JULI
worked in hotel management in South East Asia and then for a software company. She has been sourcing packaging for us and setting up the website.
PAM & CAROLIN
Carolin went to Indonesia for a Swiss NGO. She stayed for 5 years providing financial and technical support to small businesses in rural communities that had lost everything in the major 2004 tsunami that struck South East Asia. The idea to export shoes was hers.
Pam is a veteran cocoa and green coffee trader who managed a large network of export warehouses in Indonesia for more than 15 years. She provides the funding and general management. She is convinced that our shoes are able to compete in the highly competitive European market.
