Shoe Business Combines Fashion with Altruism
This is a story about a fashion altruist. Never heard of such a thing? Well, meet Blake Mycoskie, a young entrepreneur and former “Amazing Race” contestant.
When the enterprising Texan took a vacation in Argentina 18 months ago, he was struck by two things: the simple style of the alpargata, a traditional Argentine rope-soled shoe, and the absence of shoes of any kind among the adults and children in a village he visited.
“The story sounds cheesy, but I had this vision,” Mycoskie says. “That I’d start a shoe company, and for each pair sold, a pair would be given to someone in need.” And that’s just what happened. They’d be “Shoes for Tomorrow” (TOMS for short)…