It’s not very often you see a mother and son going into business together, but that’s just what happened with brand new Californian shoe company Blu Kicks, which makes without doubt the most ridiculously cute skate shoes we've seen this year so far - and now offers international shipping. Hurrah!
San Francisco natives Will Leonard and his mother Victoria Fay were inspired to create the line of shoes after seeing a fish that looked like a colourful sneaker in the water in Hawaii (true story!) and thought, ‘wouldn’t that make a lovely shoe?’ (Turns out they were right). The pair set out to create a line of slip-ons tailored to travel and holidays and honour their fish inspo with the dinkiest soles we’ve ever seen on a trainer. Ever. Instead of your average natural-colored rubber, or while soles, each pair of Blu Kicks features an illustration of a colorful fish. Just looking at them will make you crave the seaside like a pregnant woman craves pickles and ice-cream. (Or so we're told.)
Leonard - who previously works in finance - explains that 'as crazy as it sounds, I liked the idea of working with my mom! She spent a lot of time trying to perfect the style, so that they didn’t have that chunky skate sole, and weren’t super-flat. One of her main goals was that it was a flattering slip-on.'
Plus, as if these shoes aren't cute enough already, a dollar (approx 60p) from each pair sold goes towards protecting fish habitats, including that of the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a species (try and pronounce that, please). Our favourites are the Fiji Red £35 and the Whale Shark, just £23 in the sale. But it's a brand worth bookmarking too because there are plans afoot (pun intended) to expand the range to include lace-ups and beach towels, too.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.