For the new spring/summer collection, we asked ourselves one simple question…what type of shoe would Hollywood royalty want to flaunt while striding down the wide, tree-lined boulevards of Bel-Air?

Long and hard we thought about this, which led us to research the most valuable substances known to man. We had to discard a few; we couldn’t exactly craft a shoe out of saffron or caviar.

Look, maybe we just got a bit bigheaded after our recent Design Awards success. Who knows? All we know is that we’re ready to plunge headfirst into the hyper luxury kids’ fashion market.

Gold

Without further ado, please let us introduce the 100% 24 Carat Rose Gold Shoe (because what’s better than pure gold? A bit of rose tinted gold, that’s what), yours for the scant RRP of $39,999* NZD.

As you can see, our gold shoe is as stylish as Dorothy’s red shoes she wore to skip down the yellow brick road to, as alluring as Julia Robert’s knee high boots in Pretty Woman, as coveted as Cinderella’s glass slipper and as popular as a pair of Havaiana’s in summer.

Wood

Not content to rest on our (solid gold) laurels, the Bobux design team also handcrafted a wooden shoe made from recycled mahogany. It features all those buzzwords that send us doolally: artisanal, single origin, locally sourced. You name it, this shoe’s got it.

We thought, hey, whatever happened to clogs? For too long, these ingenious footwear inventions have been mired in inconsequence. But no longer! We reckon it’s high time wooden clogs made their return to the fashion spotlight!

Wax

The third and final release is another revolutionary step forward. Fully scented and oh so chic it’s made from 100% Organic, all natural beeswax!

Another world first, we’ve used fantastic New Zealand beeswax to produce a shoe unlike any you’ve ever seen. We thought, why is beeswax primarily used for boring ol’ candles and unwanted gift soaps? From there, it was a shoe in.

Together we call our new range the Bobux Luxe. We have very limited stock so get in while it lasts!

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But just as we were smouldering the final gold toe caps, applying the last coat of varnish to the recycled mahogany and sealing the beeswax in place, we had an epiphany, which hit us like a clap of thunder booming across the Hauraki Gulf...

What is form without function?

That’s the question we strove to answer.

Because good design is both. Like a bike with square wheels, it might look cool but it won't work. And you definitely wouldn't want to ride it down a hill. That means ensuring we're doing the best thing for kids' feet before we even think about making our shoes look cool.

Of course we could just make pretty shoes. But in doing so, we would be neglecting the challenge of designing shoes that are both good looking and good for kids, which is why we get out of bed in the morning.

In designing our stylish gold, wood and wax shoes, we realised we’d moved too far down the style spectrum without paying any attention to our core principles: function, substance and great foot health.

We realised that gold was far too heavy!

We realised that wood was far too inflexible!

We realised that wax was far too weak!

And so we put aside our heady aspirations, our dreams of Hollywood royalty, and headed back to the philosophy that has served us so well.

We once again sought out knowledge from podiatrists, physiotherapists, academics and foot development experts. Because it all starts with function. It begins with understanding how kids will actually use their shoes. It begins with knowing how your child's foot is growing and developing throughout their childhood and having the right footwear to meet their development needs.

At the end of this long journey, we reached the perfect compromise, that elusive balance between style and substance, form and function. And while the shoes below may not have any gold on them, they’ll feel like a million dollars to the kids who have to wear them.

And that’s what matters to us…

So please allow us to introduce the real range, the exclusively comfortable, irresistibly stylish:

New Vogue Soft Sole – lighter and more comfortable than gold

New Xplorer colours – more flexible and soft than wood

New season Blaze – more durable and lightweight than beeswax