Bucket Feet is a Chicago shoe company that combines art and charity to create awesome kicks. Bucket Feet sells artistically designed canvas shoes with 5% of the proceeds going towards children's charities.
Seven pairs of art shoes are currently for sale on Bucket Feet, all of which were designed by the company's founder Aaron Firestein. Firestein has lined up 20 additional artists from around the world to contribute to the project. Bucket Feet has partnered with MAGIC, love.futbol and Children Mending Hearts: charities that support children's sports, art and music. Consumers can choose which of these charities to give their donation to when they purchase a pair of shoes.
The social enterprise is based on what they've called a Buy One, Give Some model.
"We love the idea of social responsibility, however we recognize that not everyone is able to spend the time to 'get involved' with a community the way we did in Argentina, so we want to help bridge the gap," the website explains. "Every single BucketFeet purchase will go toward supporting our partner organizations and their various projects."
Charitable footwear companies are slowly, but surely making their way into the mainstream. It may not be long until major footwear companies take the initiative and start developing and marketing their own line of charitable shoes.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Charitable Canvas Kicks
- Creating artistically designed canvas shoes that support children's charities presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the footwear industry.
- Buy One, Give Some Model
- The Buy One, Give Some model, where a percentage of proceeds goes towards supporting partner organizations, offers opportunities for disruptive innovation in business models.
- Mainstream Charitable Footwear
- The growing presence of charitable footwear companies in the mainstream signals an opportunity for major footwear companies to develop their own lines of charitable shoes.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Fashion and Apparel
- The fashion and apparel industry can explore collaborations with artists and charities to create unique and socially responsible footwear.
- Nonprofit and Philanthropy
- Nonprofit and philanthropy organizations can partner with footwear companies to create impactful collaborations and fundraising initiatives.
- Social Enterprise
- The social enterprise sector can learn from Bucket Feet's Buy One, Give Some model and explore innovative ways to combine business and social impact.
