I Must Be Trippen
While tooling about the web checking out the shoe scenery, I passed unfamiliar and exotic territory causing me to rubber-neck and flip a bitch back to Polyvore and exit onto Trippen.
I parked in the Happy Collection and got lost in the black boots and booties perched atop miniature stilts, giving off a goth-geisha vibe that fascinated me. I can’t deny my love of the weird, the odd, the crazy, especially when it comes to the shoe, and these were certainly that.
Priced in $200s and $300s, while certainly not cheap, Trippen shoes are a bargain considering the creativity, quality of materials, design and humanity that goes into every pair.
Founded in 1992, Trippen was built around “The Trippen Experiment”:
Contrary to the popular opinion that a company can only be economically successful by ducking its production responsibilities, Trippen proves the opposite: modern design combines environmental friendliness, sustainability and social responsibility.
Their collections are designed so small quantities can be produced locally in their own factory in Berlin and in small family businesses in Italy, and sell at competitive prices.
Counter to today’s obsession with fast fashion and chasing short-lived trends, Trippen resists this throwaway nature and uses the same lasts, untraditional sole units and materials over and over again, creating a timeless silhouette with a definite edge – and soul. Herein lies their true genius, as it takes far more creativity to come up with new ideas that adhere to these principals vs. starting from scratch.
Social responsibility is another central pillar of their corporate philosophy. As noted above, they support local production. The construction of Trippen’s own factory north of Berlin reduced transportation and created new jobs in a region otherwise lacking in infrastructure. In an age where production is outsourced to sweatshops across Asia to squeeze out every dollar in a race to the bottom (a great read is Overdressed, the Shockingly high cost of fast fashion), Trippen’s commitment to making their shoes “at home” is refreshing and should be rewarded.
So I am going to reward myself with a pair of trippy Trippen shoes from the Happy Collection. I will post photos once they arrive.
And next time you’re taking a drive across the information super-highway, get lost in the links. Who knows, you may find yourself in someplace new and exciting. And with a new pair of shoes in your virtual trunk.
Let me know if they’re comfortable (they are mega cool!). And thanks for linking to that book. I abhor this incessant move toward ever faster fashion (and believe that it’s the antithesis of style). Fashion is for followers but style is for leaders.