This post really has nothing to do with waffles, except for the fact that it was what I was doing on the morning when I decided to make this video. Sometimes when blogging, it can all start to seem kind of disingenuous if you let it (this scene from Wayne’s World reflects my sentiments) so, you have to do really normal things in order to really get back to your OG vibe. And the reality was, I woke up wanting a waffle from the restaurant across the street and needed to put shoes on to go and get it. So I wore my Mohinders, the shoes I’ve been living in ever since being given a pair to wear around the Philippines, and decided it would be a good time to share about them. Here’s an island dog on the beach in Palawan checking them out:
Mohinders are a new favorite of mine for a lot of reasons. For one, their founder is a really nice guy that’s local to the San Francisco Bay area and believes in doing good. Another reason is their leather shoes are ethically sourced and made by an artisan collaborative in rural Karnataka, India. This means they believe in preserving the cultural practice of shoemaking in India as well as helping the artisans break-free from the “cycle of poverty” that commonly comes with products mass-produced outside of the US. Workers are paid a fair wage for the work they do. What’s also great about these shoes is that the entire product is natural and made from the earth. The leather is vegetable-tanned by hand in small batches using vegetable tannins extracted from the myrobalan nut and the bark of babul trees. The result is a casually cool, stylish shoe that will last through walks across sandy beaches, motor bike rides through foreign towns, and walking down the street to get waffles in your ‘hood.
This post somewhat sponsored by Mohinders. Sometimes I exchange my marginal photography and writing skills for really well-crafted goods that I care about. And then make waffle videos about it. But thanks for reading the italics, you’re really great.