Michael Toschi Redefines The Ballet Flat For Women and Children With LUV Footwear.

The influential relationship with his 9 year old daughter was the catalyst for footwear designer Michael Toschi's new LUV Footwear brand and their new Dream Flats for Adults, youth and toddlers.







Through a modern ballerina flat that serves as their first canvas, LUV celebrates art through the wearable form of footwear for toddlers, youth and women. Always looking for ways to improve upon form and function, Toschi spent years developing the brand’s signature ballerina flat. In addition to a seasonal core collection of solids, prints and innovative fabrications, LUV’s vision is to create a platform that will enable others to print original artwork on the ballerina flat and thus share their creative vision with the world.








Check out their 2012 debut collection catalog below.
Adult/Youth - Printed Lycra:




Adult/Youth - Patent, Metallic and Rhinestone:



Toddler - Printed Lycra:




Toddler - Patent and Metallic:


About:

LUV Footwear believes art is empowering and inspiring. LUV’s logo, the infinite hearts, represents the boundless possibilities of creativity. Our intention is to host a borderless platform to encourage meaningful ideas and heartfelt emotions expressed through the form of art. Through a modern ballerina flat that serves as our first canvas, LUV celebrates art through the wearable form of footwear. LUV Grows.


below: Michael Toschi


An accomplished and respected designer with many achievements, Michael Toschi began his career in footwear at the ripe age of fifteen.

During the next decade spent working at the side of his mentor, Michael traveled worldwide slowly building a keen knowledge of his craft and appreciation for artisanal culture. These formative years provided a foundation upon which he has built several brands, and an unrivaled reputation among the international design community.

Iconic footwear brands which include Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Ugg, Esprit, Banana Republic have looked to Michael to passionately encourage in-house design teams to innovate. Paired with his technical expertise, the infectious way in which he communicates this knowledge has proven to spark many golden ideas, supporting the ideology that he may very well be the King Midas of the footwear industry.

Today Michael sits at the helm of Michael Toschi International, a men’s footwear brand of luxury shoes and fine leather goods hand-crafted in Italy. Based in California, Michael visits factories regularly in Italy to work alongside production, guiding and instilling an unmatched level of quality control within all products. Through this level of detail and craft, the Toschi brand has earned the reputation as the “Ferrari of footwear.”

Alongside his professional accomplishments, as a father Michael has developed a heart-felt passion for supporting creative expression among young girls.

LUV Footwear

Chic High Heel Pain Relief From A Vending Machine: Rollasoles & Afterheels

Put away those dancing shoes and go home in comfort!
High heel calf cramps and sore squished toes get relief in the form of a vending machine with Rollasole, a brilliant product with equally savvy marketing. Rollasoles and their eco-friendly counterpart, Afterheels, are comfortable and chic ballet slippers available for purchase from vending machines inside select UK nightclubs.



For approximately GBP 5 (approx $8.00 USD), you get a pair of wearable flats in their own little dufflebag that will relieve you of those 5 inch stilettos that you bravely donned at the beginning of the evening.





The brainchild of entrepreneur Matt Horan, whose business card reads "Sole Director", the classic ballet slippers sold out when tested in nightclubs and are now a hit in the UK. With this success, they plan on introducing more vending machines and intend to roll them out (pardon the pun) beyond the UK.





Rollasoles are available in three sizes; small, medium and large and come in four colors; black, metallic gold, metallic silver or metallic pink (which is presently not available in their online store):






Matt Horan, the inventor of these truly revolutionary shoes, says he came up with the idea in a moment of drunken epiphany and after growing sick of giving his petite girlfriend (who loves wearing high heels, that much is understood) piggyback rides on the way home from a nightclub. First, he realized he must make flats available to women in the wee hours of morning, when the party is still raging on but all ladies are this close to fainting from the pain their high heels are causing. Thus, the idea of installing vending machines in clubs came naturally.


above: inventor Matt Horan with his Rollasoles.



Rollasoles' identity, web design, packaging and branding by created by the talented folks at Magpie Studio.



Afterheels is their 100% natural and fully recyclable version of the Rollasoles. The body of the shoe is made from natural, sustainable materials which biodegrade in the same time as an oak leaf. The polyproylene (PP) insole is fully recyclable where local facilities allow.



The colors aren't as pretty and they aren't metallic, but at the moment they are asking consumers to vote on new colors as well as submit their own color choices for Afterheels via an interactive design module (whose screen shot is shown below) on their site:



The duffle bag is currently made from a low density polyethylene (LDPE) which is also recyclable where local facilities allow. They aim to start a returns scheme if there are no facilities near you, but they’re aiming to change this to an even more environmentally friendly material.

Genius.


all images and info courtesy of Rollasoles, Afterheels and Magpie Studios.

Visit Afterheels
Visit Rollasole