INTERVIEW #93 TWOOBS

Based in: Melbourne

Founded in: 2016

Founded by: Jess and Stef

Stores: TWOOBS.com

Price range: $89-$169

Instagram: @twoobs

TWOOBS. Welcome to A Sustainable Closet! Tell our readers who you are! 

Our names are Jess and Stef, we’re sisters from Australia, and founders of TWOOBS – a vegan and environmentally-focused footwear brand. Our shoes are made from recycled materials, carbon-neutral and one of the comfiest things you’ll ever put on your feet.

How did you come up with the brand name, Twoobs?

We used to blog together under the name “How Two Live”, and as a nod to that we really wanted to call our footwear brand TWO or TWO SHOES… but Stef’s partner is a lawyer and he quickly shut that down in favour of something more creative that would be easier to trademark. One afternoon we had a very silly time making u words with “two” in it, and TWOOBS was where we landed.

Which is your best-selling product?

Anything and everything black… which really breaks our rainbow hearts. No matter how many colours we inject into this world, our customers overwhelmingly LOVE black.

Where do you source the material from? 

Our shoes are made in China, and we try to source our materials as close to our factory as possible to minimise emissions from travel, so all our post-consumer recycled materials come from within China. We also use some more innovative natural materials like sugarcane EVA which is sourced in Brazil.

We are curious about how and where the sandals are being produced, spill the beans!

The sandals are made in a town that specialises in footwear called Houjie, where we’ve spent lots of time over the years but unfortunately not in the last couple of due to travel restrictions around the pandemic. It’s about a 2-hour drive into mainland China from Hong Kong, and our factory there is really on board with our environmental values. It’s not easy introducing all these new materials and adopting better ways of doing things, and in the past, we’ve come up against a lot of pushback from factories, but our production partners now get really excited by all the environmental stuff, and if it’s not immediately clear on how we can make something happen, they’re very willing to give it a try.

Who is the typical Twoobs customer?

We do offer gender-neutral shoes, but our customers are primarily women who care about stuff, and want their purchasing habits to reflect their personal values.

Where do you find inspiration?

When we initially came up with TWOOBS we got a lot of inspiration from kids shoes. We would marvel at how cool kids looked, while still being in super comfortable and practical shoes – it felt so different from the world of high heels and pointy-toed shoes that at the time women were encouraged to wear. That’s why you’ll see a lot of Velcro, soft fabrics and memory foam used in our shoes.

What have been and are the major challenges of starting your own business?

There have been so many. One particularly large thing we’ve come up against lately is the high minimums material suppliers are looking for when it comes to the more environmentally conscious materials – which feels really counterproductive to what we’re trying to do with our brand. We don’t want to make things that people don’t need, and sometimes we’ll have to say no to using an awesome new material because we’d just have to make way too many pairs in it. That feels gross.

What has been and is the largest gain? 

That the brand evolves as we do. TWOOBS is an extension of our own personal values and beliefs. In the beginning, we were (and still are) huge animal lovers, so we started out by making vegan shoes. Then along the way, we became really passionate about the environment, so we pivoted towards more environmentally focused practices. It allows us to continually feel excited and fulfilled by what we do.

The best thing about Twoobs?

That they’re recyclable! We currently collect and recycle them here in Australia into warehouse and playground mats.

What's up next?

Well, we just launched kids footwear which has been a goal since the beginning. A Pinatex (pineapple leather) collaboration is in the works, and we’ve got our sights set on a winter style that should be ready to launch early to mid-next year.