A few years ago Annie Mohaupt was working as an architect, spending her days lamenting the lack of excitement in her chosen career path. She’d discovered that architects spend a lot of their time doing boring stuff like calling clients and doing paperwork rather than building skyscrapers; and inside her soul the flame of creativity was burning away, unfulfilled.
So she did what any self-respecting red-blooded American girl would do. She got some new shoes.
Except, unlike the rest of us, Annie didn’t head for the mall or hop on Amazon with her credit card. Instead she got out her safety glasses and toolbox and made them herself.
A jewelry designer friend of hers invited her to participate in the Renegade Craft Fair, and she accepted, initially not even knowing what she was going to sell. She then spent almost a year developing the initial model of her handmade wooden-soled shoes.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said to me in an interview last week. “There was a line out of my tent at the craft fair and I nearly sold out.” Taking it as a sign that her destiny was evolving, she proceeded to develop her line, calling it Mohop Shoes.
Totally hand crafted, the wooden foot beds are curved to provide support, and the shoes feature elastic loops which allow the ribbon to move with the foot and preventing blisters and chafing. Annie personally tested them with her own “100 Mile Test”, logging 100 miles in one pair of her shoes to ensure that they could hold up to years of wear and tear.
“There’s no point in making an eco-shoe if it falls apart,” she laughed. Indeed, while many shoes that are “vegan” or “green” are safely manufactured, if they don’t hold up to wear and tear they’ll quickly end up at the landfill and have to be replaced, defeating the purpose of buying them in the first place.
The signature feature of Mohop shoes, aside from the wood soles, and luxurious faux suede footbeds, are the ribbons which are completely changeable and interchangeable earning it the nickname “the infinity sandal”. Different lengths and styles of ribbon can be used to create unlimited looks–from formal to casual, from simple to ornate.
While the shoes cost a little more than your average sandal, the cost can be justified because they so versatile. Additionally, they are all handmade in the U.S. by Annie and her team in Chicago. “I make every attempt to keep costs low, and still ensure quality and ethically produced shoes,” she said proudly.
Regardless, Annie has offered my readers a special discount of 25% off their order when they purchase Mohop shoes online. Simply use the discount code: GREEN25 at the time of checkout and the discount will be automatically applied. Also, all domestic shipping is only $2.00.
I wish Annie and her team the best of luck as she seeks a U.S. based manufacturer and begins designing even more innovative, versatile and eco-fabulous shoes!
