I had always felt misunderstood. How many times have I heard in my house that of ‘why don’t you buy some shoes’? Well, I did have shoes, but what I liked were the sneakers, or ‘beach players’ as we call it in my land. One of the first things I learned when I left my house is that it is very likely that few will understand you when you talk about beach players … But I still didn’t want to know anything about the shoes.
Deep down I assumed that I was somehow condemning myself to a ragged underworld without a hint of elegance because of my stubbornness in wearing sneakers. But I never felt natural with shoes or boots. In fact, some boots I do like aesthetically and I have quite expensive ones in the closet … that I rarely wear. And it is that, as soon as I put on my boots and go out into the street, I feel pretentious, as if it were a meeting or a job interview. They are not for me …
But in the 21st century, history has changed. Even luxury firms get their ‘beach players’ at an exorbitant price, of course. And other firms are born with the desire to change the history of this sector. This is the case of beflamboyant, which I discovered by messing around on the web and I loved it. Vegan and sustainable sneakers? Is that possible? Let’s see, it is not that we do as Chaplin in La chimera del oro and eat the shoes, but that this product is respectful both with animals and with the communities that produce raw materials for the shoe industry.
The world has changed and so have the shoes: at beflamboyant they are aware of the tremendous environmental impact (the so-called carbon footprint) of the fashion industry and they have considered radically changing the way of producing clothing. And why not environmentally friendly sneakers (or sneaker, how do you say it now)? But beautiful, because that’s what it’s also about, isn’t it? To feel comfortable with fashion … and with yourself.