TOMS Introduces Sailing-Inspired Styles

Since its founding in 2006, the shoe company TOMS has been consistently popular, and noteworthy—the company’s famous one-for-one program, which matches each purchase with a pair of donated shoes, has now provided footwear to more than 10 million underprivileged children. In 2011, the company added TOMS Eyewear, which also follows a one-for-one program and provides eyewear to treat visual impairment in 13 countries worldwide. With every pair of glasses bought, TOMS provides prescription glasses, sight-saving surgery and/or medical treatment to those in need. The company has helped restore sight to over 200,000 people. In 2014, TOMS expanded again and launched TOMS Roasting Co., through which every bag of coffee purchased translates to one week of clean water for a person in need.

So were we surprised to learn that founder Blake Mycoskie and his wife, Heather, are avid sailors? Not one bit. The couple used to live on their Jeanneau 53, Satori, while Blake was first getting TOMS started. They now race and cruise regularly on Amor Fati, their Tartan 101, out of Marina Del Rey, California. They’re expecting their first child, a boy, in December and have mentioned taking off on a family cruise across the Pacific.

As a reflection of the company’s connection to all things sailing, TOMS recently introduced some sailing-inspired shoes: the World Flag Classics, “the shoe that’s been around the world and back,” the Stars and Stripes and the Sailboats Classic. Each pair features the classic suede insole, the scuff-free bottoms and the soft canvas uppers, inspired by the traditional Argentinean Alpargata cloth slide-on shoes after which the first pair of TOMS were modeled. These kicks are great for messing about on deck and on the docks.