We recently asked a bunch of our customers what got them over the line when it came to purchasing their TWOOBS. The number one response? “They looked comfy”.

Now, as a brand that’s been shouting from the rooftops about all the environmental features of our shoes and brand, that answer kinda shook us. Sorta like when Elle Woods got a confession out of Chutney just by knowing a thing or two about hair. Shook.

Not because we don’t think our shoes are comfy (spoiler: they feel like walking on clouds), but their functionality has always kinda just been something we’ve considered a given, and not really a focus. Fun fact, when we designed TWOOBS back in 2016 we were actually inspired by kids shoes. Bet that velcro is making a whole lot more sense now, huh?

We did this because we saw kids running around having the best time in their shoes, whilst still being comfortable to do all of their fave activities. And we thought to ourselves, adults should be able to comfortably swing on playgrounds whilst looking cute in their shoes too. Ok, maybe our adult playground looks a little more like bending and snapping at the salon, but you get the idea.

Fast forward to 2020 when we went through our environmental pivot, we were having so much fun telling everyone about all the cool recycled stuff in our shoes, that talking about how comfy they also are kinda fell by the wayside. Whoopsie!

Now truthfully, learning peeps buy TWOOBS because they’re comfy really shouldn’t have come as such a shock. We’ve received some insanely cool reviews about just how functional our shoes are, like:

Colleen, who said “have worn these for the last month, hiking in the US... This is my second pair.”

Jo, who said “did 30,000 steps in Kyoto yesterday. Not one blister. So comfy.”

And Alex, who said “BEST travel shoes. So light and easy to clean too (when unexpected hikes happen lol).”

We’re kinda excited about this little revelation, because if we can get people over the line with our good looks (comfort) and later shock them with our amazing personality (planet-conscious materials), how cool would that be? It’d be just like Elle hooking us in with her head-to-toe pink lewk, but totally surprising us by actually being really dang clever. Except for the fact that orange might actually be the new pink… but that’s another blog post.

So if you see us around the interwebs talking about how comfy our shoes are a bit more than we used to, now you’ll know why! Truthfully, we believe the rules of footwear should be simple and finite. Comfort is key, but we should never have to sacrifice style or sustainability.

As Gemini vegetarians ourselves, we still love Mama Earth (obvi) and will never stop singing her praises. But we’re excited to recruit a few Vivians (peeps who aren’t as engaged with climate change) into the TWOOBS fold. And who knows, we might even convert them into planet-lovers along the way.

Jess and Stef xx