Salut, we are Maria and Adrian, "dear" footwear crafters and authors of the Tikki Shoes story. It all began a little while before Stefan, the first of our kids, took his first steps. The year was 2008, we were working in IT and searching for the best things we could offer our son.
That's how we found out that each and every pair of little shoes has extraordinary potential: to benefit the natural, unrestricted development of feet, while being absolutely loved by parents and kids alike. We were starting to discover the fascinating world of minimalist footwear craftsmanship that immediately became our hobby and passion. At the beginning, everything was worn by our own kids and our friends' children.
The very first little pair of Tikki Shoes - made entirely of leather and simply fastened around the ankle, soft and light as a feather for the most natural first steps - can still be found in our Multicolor Shoescollection. Tikki thus became part of our family and grew together with us. When Stefan went to kindergarten he had to put on shoes by himself, and the footwear had to remain dry after walking on the bathroom floor. That's how our "Chubby" Shoes collection came to life, featuring quick and easy Velcro fastening and water-resistant three-layer soles.
In 2009, Teodora was born. With our previous experience we developed a whole new pattern for her. The connection already created between us and the parents who, just like us, had entrusted the essential responsibility of first steps to our dear footwear, and had discovered the naturalness and benefits of the barefoot concept, was also a tremendous help. It was them who delightedly confirmed that their little darlings - just like ours - had found absolutely fascinating play pals in the cute animals and flowers that decorate our dear Tikki Shoes. This gave us the courage to continue! And since Stefan had already started to spend more and more time playing outside, we created the Barefoot collection, featuring a rubber outer sole, doubled with a vegetable tanned leather insole. These were reliable, strong materials suited to the demands of any energetic, dynamic child.
A bit further down the road we created with delight our Chrome Free and Natural Wool collections. And since the Barefoot concept is built on principles of an all-round healthy life, we've expanded the Tikki Shoes portfolio with footwear for teenagers and grown-ups. As usual, we first tried them out in our family, finding out for ourselves how amazing it is to be freed from classical shoe restrictions, to support natural muscle development, to forget about back pain, to truly rediscover the meaning of the word "comfort".
In 2016 we welcomed another wonderful present in our lives, named Matei - our third child. Since we're first of all parents, and only then crafters of dear footwear, we decided to give ourselves and our children a little breather, slowing down the pace in our workshop and savouring the joys of family life a bit more.
And here we are NOW, happy to have found a balance between the love and care for our little darlings and the passion for everything that Tikki Shoes stands for. As for you, dear friends - because that's what we feel that each and every one who trusts us is - you are many more in number now, but still with us every step of the way. Your support and your demands, along with the needs of our kids, are the reason for Tikki Shoes' success. It is the most beautiful recognition for our hard work that we could have ever hoped for. With ever-growing passion and enthusiasm we continue to focus on constant improvement and innovation to create fascinating products. For happy feet and easy steps in dear footwear.