Indosole Blog & News

Good day, mate! I'm Kai and I handle Indosole's production in Indonesia as well as manage distribution and logistics in Southeast Asia and Australia. I recently had the opportunity to go Down Under. It was our first time introducing Indosole to Australia, which was pretty exciting. I did a loop to meet retailers, make friends, and see the sights. Planes, trains, and automobiles... You name it, I used it. It was great to meet up with so many special people. Two in particular, Mitch Sargent and his fiancée Alana Beales, took me in as one of their own, and Mitch expressed interest in helping Indosole grow in Australia. My thoughts were, "There's no better time than now. Let's do this!" We started at Byron Bay, going around and seeing the shops. I was set up at Byron Market for a day and it was nice to see the market visitors stoked on Indos! I also had the chance to catch up with our friends Salt Gypsy and The Drifter Blog, and got to meet the folks behind Thrills Co. The vibe in Byron is great--it was very warm, like an extension of our community. Next was Ballina, where I met Mitch's family who have a warehouse there, and then on to the WSL Comp at Snapper Rocks. I met with my good friend Scotty Hammonds who was shooting the comp for Surfing Magazine and he let us tag along to an interview with Josh Kerr to tour his brewery Balter. Kerr partnered with Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson & Bede Durbidge to make this Gold Coast brewery a reality and I can confidently say... the beer is good!     Then it was on to Sydney to meet with an established sales rep named Ray Blaikie and tour the shops along the Sydney beaches, in particular Manly. There I met with some rad peeps making surfboard fins out of milk carton tops. Yet another creative solution to waste! I continued to Noosa Heads, QLD, for the Noosa Longboard Fest and then headed back to the comp for the last couple days. All in all, it was a great trip. The sights were rad and the people even more so. I'm definitely planning on being back soon, so if you're in Australia and interested in a meeting feel free to email me directly at kai@indosole.com or contact Mitch Sargent at mitch@thegivingcollective.co. Cheers, mate!

A few months ago we were contacted by Joshua Shuckman, who runs "Social Change Nation" -  a site and podcast dedicated to promoting cause minded organizations and businesses. We finally got Kyle Parsons, Indosole's founder and president, on the phone to do an episode of Social Change Nation and the results were  pretty awesome. So if you want to hear how it all got started, the ups and downs of running a socially conscious business, and everything in between go ahead and listen to part 1 of Kyle's interview here: https://socialchangenation.com/029-part-1-kyle-parsons-of-indosole/ If you need it on the go, Social Change Nation is also available for download on Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-social-change-social/id921408507

It’s time to get personal! As we know, Indosole would be nothing without our super hard-working team over in Bali so we thought we’d share a little about two of our ‘Indo-Family’. Meet Komang, our factory Manager from Denpasar, Bali. Komang is 28 years old and has already been making shoes for 10 years – 5 of those for Indosole! Komang is the brains of the Bali operation and we are so glad to have her on our team! Komang likes to rock her favorite pair of black Kelapa’s each day when coming to work at the Indosole factory and who can blame her? They look great! Thanks Komang!! Meet Dodi... He is our upper construction worker who has been part of the Indosole team for 3 years and already a household name around the Bali factory. Dodi is originally from the city of Surabaya on the island of Java and is married with a one-year-old baby. His favorite shoe is the black Prahu so enjoys being able to make them too! Komang and Dodi are what we simply call “Great Humans” and want to thank them for all the hard work they put in to make the Indosole dream a reality. With Komang, Dodi and the rest of the crew in Bali by our side we are well on our way to saving 1 Million waste tires in Indonesia and making what we call “Soles with Soul!”

Indosole represents a lifestyle of resourceful creation. Each year, over one billion waste tires end up in landfills worldwide. We are on a mission to salvage discarded tires and give them new life as soles for our footwear. So far, Indosole has prevented over 30,000 tires from ending up in landfills and have turned those tires into over 60,000 pair of shoes. As a whole, Indosole features a toxic-free manufacturing process and does not use fuel powered machinery to make its footwear, just strong hands and minds. While based in San Francisco, CA and Bali, Indonesia the company's ethos is to take care of their people while chipping in to protect the environment's bottom line. We've partnered with organizations that contribute to the planet's well being and often conduct beach clean-ups, give backs, and community based events. B Corp is a natural fit for Indosole as it represents the values of our brand's integrity. Together, we believe we can produce high-quality products with a conscious effort to take care of our people while making our planet a better place to walk on.

The Batik fabric used in Indosole's products is hand dyed with traditional Balinese wax-resist methods, which are free from toxic chemicals and fuel powered machinery. Click on the link below and learn more about the batik making process.

Huge thank you to Transworld Business for featuring Indosole in supporting the launch of Balifornia 2014. Read the Article here: Indosole Launches 2014 "Welcome to Balifornia" Collection

Made Mariasa Karbit (nickname “Karbit”), is a young Bali-Born man with a lot of talent and a permanent and contagious smile. The Indosole crew has sponsored Karbit for surfing since 2010. He is currently attending Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar, and is studying economics and entrepeneurism. Through employment, Indosole pays Karbit’s full tuition, and he’s learning real world economics and business practices as well as gaining "tools of the trade" knowledge for the surf industry. Karbit assists us with inventory control of our stock at the house/warehouse and is learning how to take stock reports, and turn that into a product order form that we need to keep the shops running smoothly. Karbit also helps to manage our surf team in Bali. He helped recruit 10 young, up and comers and gathered all of their information for sizing and product preference. In addition, he also assists with promotions at surf competitions and makes sure we are on banners, hands out stickers, etc. He will assist in our ramp up and execution at the upcoming Keramas surf contest, and is helping with getting Indosole branded trash cans placed at Echo and Brawa beaches. Karbit has a great attitude and dreams big! We at Indosole are proud to support his future, education, and are thankful to have him as a part of our team...

Thank you to the KTVU 2 news team for featuring The Church of Surf! New shop breathes life into San Francisco's Outer Sunset https://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

Indosole is proud to announce a big step in our small backyard of San Francisco. We have grown our operation from the grassroots of a home based office and backyard shed, to a real-deal office/warehouse space in the heart of San Francisco's surf community. In partnership with San Franpsycho, we have opened a retail shop offering apparel, jewelry, accessories, and of course Indosole footwear. With 2500 sq. feet of workspace, we are also running our warehouse and HQ at this location. 3830 Noriega St. has been the long-time home of a Korean Church. The building itself holds a special charm and warmth that has changed hands to our handsome/beautiful crew and we have re-branded it as "The Church of Surf." Please stop by and say hi and pick up a San Franpsycho T-shirt and some new kicks!