Bobux - Butterfly in Milk / Pink

Bobux:

Bobux International Ltd was formed in January 1991 when New Zealand designers Chris and Colleen Bennett launched a unique, innovative and new category of soft soled leather shoes for children under their brand, Bobux.

Chris invented the original and distinctive styling of the original Bobux shoes for his oldest daughter Chloe when she was 9 months old.

Says Chris an Architect ”my daughter’s shoes had laces that kept on coming undone and falling off her feet. This was a source of constant frustration for my wife and I and knew there had to be a better way.”

“I took some of her shoes, replaced the laces with elastic and at the same time observed she loved wearing her cotton pre walkers with the soft fabric soles.”

“Not very durable outside but by replacing the cotton uppers and soles with leather and suede and some clever design changes such as adding the original Bobux elastic ankle device, a new shoe category was born.

Other mothers were so attracted to the cool funky shoes that they were soon asking how to buy them for their own children. The response was phenomenal.

One weekend Chris and Colleen set up a stall at the Victoria Park craft market in Auckland and within 2 hours had sold out their entire stock of 60 pairs.

The public response was overwhelming and within 6 months the little soft leather shoes that stayed on were in full production and had taken over the basement garage of the family’s home in Auckland.

The company employed two sales representatives and in the first year over 8000 pairs were sold in children’s and footwear stores throughout New Zealand.

At the end of the first year the Company appointed a distributor in Australia with such success that in 1992 Chris joined a New Zealand business group to Canada and appointed a Canadian agent based in Vancouver.

Word soon began to spread and enquiries started flooding in from countries around the World.

Since Bobux first introduced the world to its ‘soft soled leather shoes that stay on’, many imitators have copied the original Bobux elastic ankle design concept.

However says Chris "imitation is the ultimate form of flattery.”

“The companies that have copied us in the past haven’t developed the same design and innovation culture that we had from day one and the new products the company plans to release from 2007 onwards will be more difficult to copy so blatantly.”

Currently, Bobux products are sold in over 18 countries world-wide including most countries in Europe, as well as USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.