It’s a rainy Sunday here  and I just finished having a lovely lunch with my family and just to burn off what we ate we took a strol around Serendra in Fort Bonifacio. We popped into Echostore to take a look at their newest product, and my eyes were drawn to shoes that were on display. This was the first time I’ve seen shoes being sold there and I was attracted to the bright colors.

The style reminded me of a cross of my beloved espadrilles from my childhood as well as Keds sneakers. Since it was so gloomy inside I really loved how the rainbow shades even made the store brighter. The brand was called SOULe and their tagline was clever “Soles that have soul” because they were made out of recycled material. The shoe upper fabric comes from old clothes and scrap cloths that are gathered from donations and since the material is limited, so are the amount of pairs that are produced-averaging about 5 pairs per design. The soles are from old airplane tires, so think lightweight yet sturdy and great for casual ambling about. The literature on SOULe also stated that their shoes are packaged in old kacha (flour sacks) that are sewn and dyed by housewives from a small town in Samar, making this a livelihood project and that a partnership with Gawad Kalinga is also in the works.

I decided to slip on a pair and enjoyed its soft feel, I would like to roadtest a pair and see if they’re comfortable enough for longer walks. At a reasonable price for “limited edition” designs of Php 699-799, the question is, which pair to get  and well, how many 🙂

*due to my excruciatingly slow internet connection I have uploaded smaller versions of my pictures. Will upload higher-res version once my ISP speeds up!!!

ECHOstore is located at the Ground Floor of Serendra Piazza, Fort Bonifacio Global City. Check out the website at http://www.echostore.ph or call (632) 9013485.