Indosole Blog & News

Work It.October 2nd was National Batik Day in Indonesia. You may be unaware of batik, a cloth that traditionally uses wax resist dying technique and dates back to the 4th century. Not much of batik fabric has surfaced in the states; however, it's cultural identity among Indonesians in their homeland. Batik is used to make sarongs, kebaya dresses and even babies are intentionally wrapped in this cloth to bring good luck through infancy.Batik is making a strong presence in the 21st century since many Indonesian fashion designers are constructing collections with batik being the focal fabric. During Jakarta's Fashion Week in 2010 and 2011, the runways were strutted with batik. So, the next time you grab that "dakine" button up for Aloha Friday, IndoSole wants you to consider batik as an option. Yew

Remember to Swim and not SinkTONIGHT / TONIGHT/ TONIGHTSpoke Art Gallery816 Sutter St.94109 S.F. {see previous post}

Protect Sharks & BiodiversityThis one hits close to home. It's unfortunate that sharks have been labeled with such a negative reputation through out the decades. The human instinct of fear is a preconceived mistake toward to the oceanic creature and has possibly led us to neglect an important ecology issue.As many know, shark fin soup is a culinary delicacy among the Asian culture. Although the market price for the item is not cheap, the demand has rapidly increased due to the rise of economic wealth in China. With this higher demand, over fishing has resulted in a 90% decline of many shark species. Fewer sharks in our oceans along with the imbalance of the underwater ecosystem is a topic with detrimental consequences.This Friday night in San Francisco, Pangea Seed in collaboration with Spoke Art is launching an art exhibition in an effort to address the issue of shark depletion in our oceans. This is a great opportunity to absorb more knowledge about the issue and learn how you can help. Please check out PangeaSeed.com and read through their content. COME OUT and SHOW SUPPORT for the cause.

Double Whammy Weekend The Indo crew will be setup and slinging sandals at back to back events this weekend Saturday Sept. 17: AirFest at the House of Air - Chrissy Field - San Francisco - 12pm - 6pm Sunday Sept. 18: Capsule Design Festival - Hayes Valley - San Francisco - 11am - 6pm More Info: House of Air - http://houseofair.com/ Capsule Design Festival: http://www.missingpieceproductions.com

Extinguishing the route to WasteAlthough the positive contributions are irrefutable, Eco fashion is a design philosophy that can be contrived by one's tactic to gain marketing creditability for their label or brand. When we come across a fashion label and feel its stoke, there becomes this underlying question of, "Will a community benefit through this company's core principles and mission?"I was recently web surfing through the Eco fashion world and landed on http://www.fire-hose.co.uk/index.html. The company is Elvis & Kresse and based in the UK. The reason and vision between IndoSole and Elvis & Kresse is unified. We both take durable materials that will end up in landfills, re-purpose the utility and supply a product connected to moments of the past. Elvis & Kresse take distinguished British Fire Brigade hoses and re-engineer them into useful day-to-day objects such as belts, bags, cases, dining table sets at much more. Think of the craftsmanship and history behind the salvaged fire hoses. WOW. Oh wait, forgot to mention that 50% of the profits are given to the Fire Fighters Charity. To answer the question of whether this company has credibility due to its community awareness. I think so. They know so.

Shop Stop: SURFY SURFYIt's not difficult to get filled with stoke when driving the Southern California coastline; however, through certain areas it's hard to distinguish when exiting one city and entering the next. Leucadia is one town that has collectively maintained the natural Southern California attitude and landscape through decades of change. IndoSole is honored to supply product to Surfy Surfy, a Leucadia surf shop that focuses on craftsmanship, originality and simply having fun in da water. Led by P.J. and Summer, the laid back and friendly atmosphere is punctuated by board shapes that are conventional or experimental, but all have "foam function" qualities. Drop in and check out this slammin shop that now features IndoSole sandals. Yew!974 N Coast Hwy 101Leucadia, CA 92024760-452-7687

Surf City U.S.A While Huntington Beach hosted the U.S. Open of Surfing (and over half a million people) to its streets and beaches, the San Clemente based Indo crew led a tactical strike into Surf City to seize every facet the extravaganza had to offer. Starting strong on Wednesday night at the Lido Theater, was the premier of Transworld’s surf flick Surprise Excitement Party along with Red Bull’s, Minor Threat. Led by the Coffin brother’s one two punch of power surfing and a new age aerial attack, S.E.P. ‘s biggest standout was Michel Bourez with superb backside barrel rides. The biggest surprise: S.E.P. features a rad 3-D section made possible with the help of Go-Pro and IndoSole family member Zach Shelhammer. After an attempted surf at Upper’s (Kai doesn’t want to talk about it) we cruised up the PCH to the Agenda Trade Show, and made the rounds, checking in on friends, foes and the famous (Danny and the Dingo, Losness, Damo, Koston, Paul, Sheehan, etc). The sights were great, but The Sounds were better. Led by Kai’s new girl Maja Ivarsson, the Sounds delivered a heavy hitting set late in the afternoon and even got pro surfers Laura Enever and Carissa Moore up and dancing. After gathering a good five raffle tickets each, we headed over to the World Premier of Kai Neville’s Lost Atlas. Not to give away the ending, but … it rocked and did not disappoint. A must see as Neville uses raw cut footage of 15 of the world’s best surfers in conjunction with candid conversations to capture a side surfing that is often lost. As it turns out, being named Kai has its advantages when entering the post film gathering, and patience paid off as we got to stick around for Pacificos, senoritas, and most importantly, Dane testing out his knee’s fitness via mosh pit. Signing off – Spencer

Bali Correspondence: Woke up this foggy morning to an email from IndoSole's Bali marketing manager, Clemens. The message was brief and concise. "Hey guys, I have been kicking it and flowing Indo product to this local Balinese kid named Mega Semadhi. Here's a recent photo of him at Desert Point. Cheers!" My day has no more shades of grey in the forecast. Click on da barrel

Re-Purposed Synergy IndoSole values the mechanics and efficiency of two wheeled transportation. Whether it's a ten block bicycle ride to the produce market or an urban motorbike exploration through SF, we get our fix on two wheels. Dylan Bigby may possibly bleed chain grease. He and I first met in 2006 while we studied at San Francisco State University. It wasn't a classroom introduction, but rather it was our shared stoke to build fixed gear bikes and mash around the SF streets. It's a rad coincidence that once we obtained our degrees at SFSU, the passion for riding on rubber tires inspired us to devise a lifestyle project that re-purposes worn down tires. Dylan Bigby is the founder of Retired Belts. Neighbors: Dylan Bigby (Full Length) from Agency Charlie on Vimeo. - JU