Hey Everyone! Today I have a review of ZIPZ Shoes!
Here's how it all started:
ZIPZ
SHOES
“THE
ZIP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD”
ZIPZ Shoes is the brainchild of Orange County
entrepreneur, Jerry Stefani and his family.
A clandestine BBQ/family reunion 6 years ago would become the catalyst
for the idea. A large contingent of the
family had children in attendance at the BBQ.
Some of these children played “dress up” and changed their shoes several
times during the day much to the chagrin of their mothers who complained of
having to buy excessive pairs of shoes for the children. Other children simply got their shoes so
dirty from playing they had to be changed numerous times throughout the day. In both cases Jerry took notice and in a
stream of free thinking he made a comment that perhaps an interchangeable shoe
would solve these problems.
Curious,
the family members around Jerry asked him exactly how he would accomplish that
goal. Jerry’s idea was simple: Create a
shoe with replaceable, interchangeable covers and souls. While this initial burst of genius made the
idea seem easy it would prove to be quite an adventure and anything but
simple. Jerry’s immediate family began
to get involved and discussions began on how to tackle this project. The initial suggestions for the shoe’s
fastening system consisted of such things as snaps, buttons, fasteners, Velcro,
etc. These early ideas and sketches were
numerous but a consensus among family members could not be reached. Clearly the key piece to the idea was still
missing.
Then
in the middle of the night, again Jerry was struck by an idea…Zippers!! He immediately informed his family and they
all agreed this was the idea they had been hoping for. It was so simple, yet so perfect. A zipper would be the ideal means of
replacing and interchanging covers and souls of a shoe.
Now
that the idea was set, the manufacturing process could begin. Again, during this time setbacks were
many. Initially the cost of the shoe was
the primary focus and all attention was directed at this goal. Again, this proved to be a costly
mistake. Numerous prototypes and
numerous factories failed over the next several years. This was a mentally and financially painful
R&D period. Suddenly the family
changed directions and realized the quality of the shoe and it’s use should be
the top priority regardless of costs and all efforts were focused on this goal.
Zipz
forged partnerships with the best footwear factory group in the world, Diamond
Group along with sourcing and manufacturing company SRG, run by the famous Art
Carver. Zipz also forged partnerships with
the world’s best fastening company, YKK.
World class art director Scott Anderson joined the Zipz team, as did
award-winning shoe designer Trevor Marley, VP of Operations Marcello Zalai, and
CFO Fadel Lawandy. With this team in
place Zipz began working with more specialized factories and the best materials
available. Due to the labor intensive
needs of the shoes construction not many factories would accept the challenge
of making the shoe. Finally Diamond
Group did. It took almost a year to
formulate the proper methods of manufacturing and developing the correct
covers, soul’s, designs, packaging, and of course the special YKK zipper. While the shoe was now extremely expensive to
manufacture there was no denying it was everything they had hoped for in use
and quality and the dream that was an interchangeable shoe was now reality.
Initially
the shoes were named “Marshmallow Skins” because they were so soft and
comfortable; somewhat like being in your own skin. Not to mention the fact that you could “shed”
your skin and change it to something new if you wanted. While this name was cute and served its
purpose, it was clear a few more “tweaks” were necessary before going to
market.
Heading
back to the drawing board, the team began making those necessary tweaks, which
included changing the name to “Zipz Shoes” and finalizing the launch of the
first of the Zipz collections, the “Cali Classic” collection. During this time, Zipz intellectual property
and patent attorneys, Knobbe Martens Olsen & Bear LLP, worked diligently to
secure Zipz Shoes patents worldwide in both utility and design which were
finally issued in 2009!
The
journey from an idea at a family BBQ to the launch of Zipz Shoes has ended, but
the journey for Zipz Shoes taking over the world is just beginning! Don’t worry though, we’ve got more BBQ’s
ahead for the Zipz team and we’ll think of something to make that happen as
well…
Change Your Shoes,
Change Yourself, Change Your World!!!
I was sent a pair of ZIPZ in the DRAGONROSE style! And I think they are just gorgeous!
I've worn them several times, and they are quite comfortable. I love the fact that all you have to do is unzip them, get a new pair of covers, and zip them on! And voila, it's a new pair!
I must say, these are my new favorite shoes. I can't wait to get more covers for them!
*I was sent this pair of Zipz Shoes for review purposes only. I am not being compensated for this review. All opinions are 100% my own.
