I have happy feet

I mentioned recently about watching France24's Green is the New Black and the focus they did on soleRebel shoes. 

soleRebels is a company in Ethiopia that was started by a lady named Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu. The shoes are made with a strong emphasis on renewable resources. Using hand loomed accents, hand spun organic cotton, the soles are cut from used truck tires, any leather is from small farmers. The company hires it's workers at fair wages, and hires a lot of people that wouldn't normally be employed. It's making an honest effort to make the area better, and to do it in a 0 carbon footprint way. 

So I looked up the site, and found out that they have a weekly giveaway. Tweet the link to the shoes you like, with @soleRebels so they see it, once a week, one person wins a pair of shoes. The contest IS international. So everyone gets to try!

I won! I won! And was/am really super excited. 

The pair I won and pictured above are the Xodus Iration in black.

They are so comfortable. The soles are cushy and thick. These are shoes meant to be worn without socks. The fit was perfect. They were also shipped very quickly. The company ships using FedEx. Instead of shoe boxes, they are sent with a lovely cream colored hand loomed drawstring bag made of cotton. You can't see it in that photo, but the sides of that comfy sole are trimmed with a hand loomed ribbon in blues and creams.

I'm in love. Comfy shoes from a company that is just really awesome. Now, I will say, don't do what I'm doing above. If you plan to wear them in snow, use ice grips. Really. The soles are very smooth. 

Now, I have to decide which pair to get next. I love the look of the urbanRunners (and wish so much they came in pink) but the tooTOOs look like the most comfortable shoes ever. Such hard decisions!