USULI – Art on your feet from Georgia
It started “just like that”: Mako and Sophia, two old friends, sitting around the kitchen table during the pandemic, plenty of time on our hands, realizing we had access to a lot of good quality leftover or discarded materials from designer friends. After several months of brainstorming we decided we wanted to make beautiful shoes - but in a way that no one e
lse was doing. In December 2020, with the help of experienced Tbilisi shoemakers, we produced our first collection of winter boots out of old soviet blankets, of the kind that lie in every grandmother’s cupboard. We then set up a city-wide campaign to collect rugs, coats, vintage curtains and offcuts from contemporary fashion designers. With these we started designing hand-made shoes in a range of styles that could be adjusted to the needs of each individual customer. The result has been that each shoe, even within a pair, is unique. Instead of anticipating scaling demands, which creates so much uniformity in the fashion industry, our products have leant the other way: towards the freedom and playfulness of artworks. USULI canvas slip-on shoes were hand painted by well-known artists, old silk ties were used to make sandals, old rugs or wool and felt from coats were turned into loafers, and summer ballet shoes were fashioned out of cotton, silk and velvet from furniture producers. Many of our creations contain hints of designs and textures that were in every household in Georgia during Soviet times. These fragments of the past are brought back to life in Usuli shoes, giving them a fresh context and meaning. For this reason, our designs are very “site specific” and could never be repeated elsewhere. As USULI grows in popularity we’ve managed to stay true to our mission of combining bold designs, ecological values, fine craftsmanship and consultation with each customer. This may seem like a step too far in many places but can still be achieved in Georgia at prices that make our footwear accessible to almost anyone.
