I had started to teach myself to make shoes four years earlier after leaving Art College. I was inspired to hear that in parts of Africa, car tyres were recycled into soles. This got me thinking and soon I was making shoes out of anything I could lay my hands on, but being veggie I didn't want to use leather. Then I made an exciting discovery, -a synthetic Microfibre material used for yachting upholstery. It looked and felt like supple leather, but was 'breathable', unlike other plastics. After some experimenting, I realised that this was what I had been looking for, and Vegetarian Shoes was born. The range of styles quickly grew, as well as shoes I made boots, sandals and belts from this new fabric. Everything was made to order and as the word spread I got busier and busier to the point where I could not make the things fast enough! So I took my material to a footwear factory to get them to make shoes for us. Now I had a stock that I could mail-order to veggies and vegans all over the country!
