In this interview, we explore the inspiring journey behind Earth Sole, a handcrafted barefoot shoe brand rooted in sustainability, creativity, and a deep connection to nature. What started as a personal solution to the discomfort of modern footwear evolved into a purpose-driven business that honors the earth, embraces minimalism, and supports conscious living. From working with repurposed leather to building a small, intentional team in Cape Town, the founder shares the unexpected twists, challenges, and rewarding moments that shaped the brand’s path. What drives someone to build a shoe company with no prior experience—and how does living barefoot in nature lead to an internationally growing business? Keep reading to find out.

Where are you based?
I’m based in Portugal right now, our brand is based in Cape Town, where I lived till last year, for just over five years.

What inspired the founding of Earth Sole, and how did your experience living in nature influence the brand?
The inspiration for the very first pair I have ever made came from when it was in the final stages of the pandemic. I had been living in nature for 1.5 years and I was going to head back to the city of Cape Town for work. I wasn’t so excited about the thought of wearing shoes with thick, rubber soles again. And in the past, I had walked around barefoot at work, but often fell a little but awkward. When a friend had leather offcuts at a festival I thought, why not make myself a pair of shoes with this? And so I did!

Can you share more about the “aha” moment when people started asking about your shoes.
Yes, that was real! At festivals and around, in the year following after I had made my first pair of shoes, people had made notes of my shoes, and asking me where I had bought them. But I have no experience with leather, business or shoe making, and knew it was going to be a real big thing to start a business making shoes, so I didn’t jumped on the idea. Then, one year after I had made my first one, I made my partner of the time a pair. I was curious about the whole thing, starting a brand making these shoes, and noticed how much people enjoyed them and were also craving a pair of shoes feeling like wearing no shoes at all. I went with my partner to another festival, at the end of 2021 and he was wearing his new pair. About every five minutes people asked “Hey, those are cool! Where do you get the shoes from?”. And that was the moment I was like “Damn, I probably should give it a go”. Six months later I truly started.

What drew you specifically to the barefoot movement and minimalist footwear?
A funny think might be: I am not drawn to neither, and never been! I also compare our shoes actually more with being barefoot, than with real shoes. They are just an extra later of leather at the top and the bottom, like a second skin, and feel like being barefoot, but with a little bit more protection. I think in general, I don’t like the looks of barefoot shoes, plus I prefer to be barefoot if I can anyway!

Why do you feel barefoot shoes are the best for the feet?
Being barefoot, or wearing very minimal barefoot shoes like ours, have so – so many benefits! First of all, I like the feeling of freedom. Secondly, and the main reason I wanted to make my shoes with leather soles, is because grounding is so good for us, which is being in connection with Mother Earth. This has so many benefits, like stress release, better sleep and a better blood circulation. Besides this, having no or minimal footwear keep the natural flexibility of the foot, and the one thing the barefoot community is about (more than me!), is that your feet have more space in barefoot shoes, and feet can return back to their natural shape. Regular footwear is hardy, and shapes your feet to the shape of the shoes which is not natural.

You mentioned the documentary Kiss the Ground as influential. How did that idea of grounding evolve into a business philosophy for Earth Sole?
Yes, this was a big thing for me. I learning through this documentary how important grounding is for us. And as an earthy soul myself, it feels so logic and natural to stay in connection with the earth as much as possible, which is where grounding, or earthing is about. After seeing the documentary, I wanted to stay in connection with the earth as much as possible, but regular footwear has rubber soles which besides restricts flexibility, also insulates your energy. There is no way your energy can be released, neither you can receive the earths energy. Our leather soles still conducts about 70% of the earths energy and that is why I made our shoes with leather soles only.

Earth Sole seems to be about more than footwear. How would you describe the bigger mission or message of the brand?
Thank you for seeing this! The bigger message is to do the best we can, in all we can. We don’t just use any leather, we only use repurposed leather for all our top and back parts. The offcuts we have from this has being kept for kids shoes, which we finally released only one months ago, as kids should also be wearing unrestricted shoes! We don’t just have a team that we work with, but we have true care for them, with fair wages, regular check-ins, good work circumstances. We treat our customers as kings and queens, as all is energy and we truly want them to be happy with our shoes, as the brand isn’t just about making money, it is about having happy customers. And when I look at our five star reviews, I’m super proud as our customer service is one of the main things people rave about! And last but not least, $1 of every sale goes to two Capetonian charities I know well, as I believe in the energy of giving and receiving – what comes around goes around!

How do you define success for Earth Sole? Is it about growth, impact, connection, or something else entirely?
It is about making a healthy and high-quality product that make people feel both happy and free – and I think we’re doing quite a good job with this!

With no previous experience in shoemaking, how did you teach yourself the craft and bring your ideas to life?
I have no shoe making experience, but I am a creative soul. For my first shoes, I just made the most simple design for a pair of shoes, and the design has been pretty much unchanged. I put the pieces of leather offcuts around my foot, seeing what looked nice, logic and simple. I glued the top and back parts to the soles, and wanted to stitch them. My partner said “why don’t you use a Dremel to make the holes?”. I’m so happy he did, otherwise I would have probably never made my first pair – creating holes by hand is so much work, and this was done in 10 minutes! So, after the holes, I stitched it and there it was: my very first pair of shoes. And actually, I think it is one message I hope to get across to people: if you have an idea, and you’re excited about it, just do it. I had back then no idea I would start a brand with these shoes. And when I started the brand, I also had no idea where I was going! I just started, made one step at the time. And everytime I faced big challenges or lost motivation, I checked in with myself: should I keep going? The answer I felt deep inside of me was: yes. Or, I remembered all the enthusiastic friends and customers that keep on saying: this shoes is THE BEST! Thank you so much and please, don’t ever give up!

Earth Sole shoes are handmade in Cape Town. What does your production process look like today?
We still have a small team, but we slowly grow. Natasha has pretty much been with me from the start. She has autisms and finds it difficult to be social, and never had a regular job. She finds such purpose and joy in her work, which I love to see. We help each other, and it’s a win win! Which is actually the only way I like to have things be. For the rest we have two stitchers that have a full time job, and stitch our shoes in the evenings and weekends, which freedom they enjoy a lot, also they have been with us since almost two years already! And we slowly start to train more people for our intrigued 2.5 hour shoe making process. Further its Zoe, my companion, Aneeqah doing customer support and off and on someone for Instagram, which is not always easy to find someone with the same vibe and feeling for style! And then I am the founder and focus on growth, development, and constantly do my best to improve the website. As it comes to style, I do secretly do enjoy this part a lot, haha!

You use repurposed leather from upholsteries. How do you source your materials, and why did you choose this route?
We’re lucky there is quite a big upholstery industry in Cape Town. By now, we have good connection with some high-end upholsteries, and we pass their workshops once per month to find the best pieces of leather. Best meaning, high quality and beautiful colors! I choose this path, with is certainty not always the easiest (as there is not an unlimited amount of repurposed leather!), as I love upcycling and hate waste. Also, I care for animals and nature, so buying new hides just doesn’t make sense to be! Also, besides durability, it makes our shoes vibrant, new, unique. Once a color has run out, we never know if it will come back! We used to have green and blue, colors we unfortunately haven’t had for a while, so every design is an unique and limited edition!

How do you balance sustainability with durability, especially given that some materials are recycled and some are not (like the sole leather)?
If I could, the sole would also have been made with recycled leather. It was a very difficult and big step for me to purchase a new hide for this, but I had to because high quality, thick and sturdy leather that I could use for the soles seldom could be found as recycled leather.

As a non-vegan brand, what are your thoughts on navigating sustainability and ethics in a way that includes, but doesn’t strictly follow, vegan values? Would you consider incorporating some vegan designs?
I would absolutely love that! I have heard of mushroom leather and would much enjoy giving that a go, though knowing the quality of leather the soles need to last long, I am worried it might not be a great option, but when we have developed our very first vegan shoes and after testing, it worked great – Jejune Magazine will be the first to know! Side note: I used to live in South Africa and there it wasn’t possible to get any vegan leather. I have recently moved to Portugal, and in Europe these things are more available and after being remembered about the vegan leather from this question, I send immediately an email to some companies making vegan leather to hear their thoughts on using their leather for our soles! And this is a good example of how we expand. One little step at the time .

You mention inspiration from Indigenous footwear practices, like those of the Vikings and Native Americans. How does this historical connection shape your work?
I am from the Netherlands, and definitely think I have some Viking blood in me! And I have lived in Australia, and the Aboriginals have always inspired me hugely, by their connection with nature. That is also how I want to live as much as possible, and therefore all native footwear and living will always in inspire me in everything I do, both business and private.

What’s next for Earth Sole? Any exciting collaborations or projects on the horizons?
After just releasing the kids shoes, and two new fits for our standard sizing, I want to create new designs. I have started this process about two months ago when I visited Cape Town, but together with photographing our new collection and doing product improvements, I didn’t had time to continue. But a boot design has always been a dream of me, and there will also be some more – a little more hippie – designs on the horizon!

It has been a crazy past few years, and we suspect at least four more. How have you been staying positive?
Well to be honest, I don’t hope another four more haha, as it has indeed been a proper process to get Earth Sole going! I had no idea how much it involved to built a brand, and have to much respect for people that start and run a business. I’ve stayed positive and motivated by three main things. One is the feeling it was just right, and this is my path to walk, also because of many signs and synchronicities I’ve had over the years. I am writing about this in our new blog series “Behind The Scenes” : https://www.earthsolefootwear.com/blog/categories/behind-the-scenes Then another huge one has been the enthusiasm of customers over the years. Besides an amazing feeling, I know how healthy they are and I like to say: free souls deserve free shoes! Lastly, it is my dream of making more music and meditations, and writing a book about spirituality. I would love to have my conscious brand being more at the background and receiving an income, whilst growing there projects that also have my heart.

What is your motto in life?
Not the sky is the limit, but your mind AND If it doesn’t flow, let it go!

To learn more about Earth Sole, visit the links below:
www.earthsolefootwear.com, Instagram

Excited to found out more / experience a pair? Head to their website to find their designs, and receive an exclusive 10% discount for Jejune Magazine readers. Please use the following link and promo code: JEJUNE when checking out: https://www.earthsolefootwear.com/?ref=JEJUNEMAGAZINE

Crafted with Care, Worn with Soul: The Earth Sole Journey