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Qhipas are handcrafted shoes made with a vibrantly colorful, plant-dyed wool fabric.
The fabric is hand-loomed by the descendants of a very long line of Quechua-speaking artisans, for whom the preservation of their cultural heritage, skills, traditions, and language is paramount.
When you buy Qhipas, you help to sustain this amazing legacy and the Quechua way of life.
Two years in development. Hundreds of prototypes.
Qhipas are the highest quality handcrafted sneakers available anywhere.
Don't buy these if you don't want to be stopped in the street by people asking about them... it's been happening to everyone who wears them.
Qhipas are handcrafted by Ecuadorian Zapateros. These are highly skilled people who have done nothing but make shoes by hand their entire lives.
We pay our Zapateros significantly more than the local Zap wage. PLUS benefits. AND profit-share.
Consequently, we have the best of the best (of the best).
They are kind of amazing.
Our Zapateros create Qhipas one pair at a time, using a vibrantly colorful wool fabric hand-loomed by indigenous Quechua artisans from Peru.
The communites that weaves our fabric has been producing it for over 800 years (or so they tell us).
Which is extra-amazing.
Qhipas are made using the Strobel construction system - considered to be the best way to make comfort and athletic shoes in the world.
Same construction system that Nike and Adidas use for all of their sneakers and athletic shoes.
You can run faster in theirs, but you'll go farther in ours!
The Quechua say (uniquely in the world) that you can see the past, so it lies in front of you. And you can't see the future, so it lies behind you.
The word "qhipa" is a reference to the future, and roughly means "going forward by looking backward."
We added the s to the end, just because.
"Qhipas" speaks to our social mission of helping to strengthen and preserve their awe-inspiring legacy of language, skills, and culture by buying their fabrics at twice the local market price so as to better sustain the weavers and their communities.
The idea is to make their livelihood economically viable enough to attract the next generation of kids into doing the same.
(You know, rather than blowing off mom and dad, moving to the city, eating TV dinners and getting iPhones...)
More and more, people are becoming disenchanted with inauthentic brands and products that are not ethically produced. We're waking up!
Mass production and "fast fashion" often mean:
mass pollution
labor exploitation
child labor
unacceptable health and safety conditions
synthetic materials that may never break down
In fact, mass-produced "fast fashion" is the second-largest polluter in the world! Yuck!
It also fails to sustain valuable artisanal skills, traditions, and culture. Eek!
Which is why we are excited to introduce Qhipas to the world!
Like it or not, if you buy a pair of Qhipas you become a freakin' changemaker!
You are contributing to a growing group of like-minded people banding together to push the transitioning of the apparel and footwear industries towards greater sustainability and less ecological and social damage.
We are changing that here!
It's kind of a thing.
#WhatYouWearMatters
#BeEquippedForTheTrip
