Olli || Fair Flip Flops On A Mission
I've mentioned before that when it comes to footwear, like most things in my life, I like to keep it simple. I need shoes that I can throw on easily, wear with 94% of the pieces in my closet, and chase a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old around in. While it's pretty safe to say that heels (of any shape or size) aren't for my lifestyle (or level of walking ability), flats, sandals, booties, and of course, flip flops most definitely are.
When the ladies of Olli reached out to me about their Kickstarter campaign for fair trade, ethically made flip flops, I immediately knew I wanted to get involved. Believe it or not, for the past two or three summers I've been without a pair of flip flops for a few reasons. A) I was too lazy to buy a new pair, and B) I couldn't find an ethically made option that was in my budget AND higher quality than the Old Navy pairs I had been used to.
Enter Olli.
Olli was started earlier this year by two sisters who, like me and many others, were frustrated with the conventional flip flop options on the market.
Did you know that the majority of flip flops on the market are, not surprisingly, made with cheap and not very environmentally-friendly materials such as plastic, PVC, or EVA foam, all of which have been proven damaging to our world and our bodies.
Olli, on the other hand, uses sustainably sourced, renewable, biodegradable, fair trade rubber (it's a mouthful, I know) for their flip flops. Their fair trade rubber is made through the latex sap of the rubber tree. After traveling to India and Sri Lanka to find suppliers for their rubber, Heather was disgusted by the exploitation of the rubber industry. The workers she met lived in meager conditions with wages far from what they needed to survive.
She knew there had to be a way to create shoes that were both comfortable and didn't come at the exploitation of others. And she's spent the past few years trying to find the safest way possible to make the very first pairs of Olli's perfect flip flops.
One of their first steps was to join the Fair Rubber Association, which ensures that the certified brands use rubber from carefully audited plantations that pay their workers above a living wage, have safe working conditions, health care, and use natural, biodegradable rubber.
After wearing my flip flops for the past few weeks, I can say with certainty that they surpass any other flip flop I've owned in quality, comfort, and durability.
Olli launched their Kickstarter campaign almost two weeks ago and they've already surpassed their funding goal of $10,000. (What?!) It's SO exciting to me to see an ethical start up be supported so fully by people who believe that there's a better way to shop for something as simple as a pair of flip flops.
Their campaign is open until April 13, and even though they're fully funded, there is still so much more they could do with the added support. They've already launched several add-ons and have big dreams for the future of Olli, so don't hesitate to grab a pair for yourself.
Their flip flops are affordable (which is hugely important for so many of us,) durable, completely ethically made, and will most likely replace every other pair of shoes I own this summer. What more could you want in a flip flop?
Post details:
- Pants: MATTER Prints
- Blanket: Wakened Apparel
*This post was compensated by Olli. As always, all sponsored posts are authentic and hand selected by me. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Simply Liv & Co. possible!*
