John Fluevog

John Fluevog is a Canadian shoe designer. According to the promotional material published by the company, he began his career working for Sheppard's Shoes in Vancouver in the 1960s. In 1970, he and a co-worker Peter Fox began their own shoe store. The shoes are described as "progressive, art deco" inspired. The company claims that the shoes are designed in Vancouver, and manufactured in Portugal, Mexico, Peru, China and Vietnam according to the company's website.[1] The shoes often include messages engraved into the soles, the most famous being from The 7th Heaven Family, whose Angel Soles read: Resists alkali, water, acid, fatigue and Satan.[2]

Store sign on Newbury Street in Boston

Career

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Fluevog spent much of his youth at his father's drive-in ice cream parlour. During this time, he developed a passion for cars, which in turn has provided inspiration for many of his shoe designs.

John Fluevog store in Dumbo, Brooklyn

In 1970, he joined forces with Peter Fox to start their own shoestore in Vancouver's Gastown. The partnership, known as "Fox and Fluevog", lasted over ten years before the two split in 1981. In 1985, Fluevog opened his own store in Seattle.

During the 1980s, Fluevog store was the first to import Dr. Martens shoes into North America. By the 1990s, Fluevog had opened five privately owned and operated stores in Seattle, Vancouver, Boston, Toronto, and New York. His shoes began to appear in magazines such as Vogue, in fashion shows for Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson, and worn by celebrities such as Madonna and Lady Miss Kier.[3]

By the end of the 1990s, Fluevog had stores in San Francisco and Chicago also. These were followed in the 2000s by stores in Los Angeles, Montreal, and a new flagship store in Gastown. As of April 2015 there were 19 Fluevog stores in North America.[4]

"Green philosophy"
Store display

As part of Fluevog's green philosophy, when Fluevog opened his new Gastown store, he moved his design office into the store location so that customers could watch the design team in action from the first floor showroom. By creating desks out of scaffolding, tables out of fallen old growth oak trees and pipes salvaged from the Alaskan Pipeline, and using recycled carpets and other various cast-off items, John designed an eco-friendly workspace.

Fluevog "Angel" soles are resoleable and made from hevea tree latex, a natural latex harvested in Vietnam. Some styles have been made using vegetable tanned leathers. Fluevog has also released remakes of successful styles using hemp instead of leather, making the shoes vegan.

Vietnamese, Cambodian and Burmese human rights records have been the subject of criticism by the United Nations, Amnesty International and others; latex and rubber growers in these countries subject workers to extremely low wages, in violation of minimum wage laws, and even illegally occupy thousands of hectares of forest while removing indigenous people.[5][6][7]

Design collaborations

In 2002, Fluevog created an online site where anyone can submit shoe designs. If a submission is selected, the shoe is named after its creator. As of April 2015, there were fifteen open source submissions manufactured. Other Fluevog collaboration designs have included a snowboarding boot with Ride Snowboards, a bicycling shoe with Race Face Bikes, a shoe with the Danielson Family, and a Riding boot designed with Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols.

In 2007 after a spontaneous performance in the Vancouver storefront, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, gravitated toward the store's women's heels. Inspired by the performance, Fluevog designed a 2.5" men's high heeled boot named "Perry", which was manufactured in blue faux-crocodile, black snake, and mirror silver leathers for Fluevog's Fall '08 line.

Clients

Fluevog has gained fans all over the world who have become known as "Fluevogers". Some notable fans include Whoopi Goldberg, who wore a pair of Fluevog's Mini "lover boots" on her first day as co-host on The View, Lady Gaga, Woody Harrelson, Scarlett Johansson, Robin Williams, Neil Patrick Harris, Paula Abdul, and actor Masi Oka who was seen wearing Fluevogs on many episodes of NBC's Heroes.[8]

The White Stripes own custom red and white Fluevogs.[9]

Amanda Palmer has said that she admires his designs, and wears his shoes to advertise his merchandise.

Footnotes
  1. "Fluevog Shoes | FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions". Fluevog Shoes. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  2. "7th Heaven Derby Swirl (6 Eye)". Fluevog Shoes. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  3. "Over 40 Years of Fluevog - About Fluevog". Fluevog Shoes. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  4. Stores
  5. Head, Jonathan (2013-05-13). "Vietnam firms in 'land grabs' charge". Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  6. "Vietnam: Activists Beaten in Concert Raid". Human Rights Watch. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  7. "Cambodian indigenous communities win back their sacred land from Vietnamese rubber developer". Inclusive Development International. 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  8. Bowman, Jordan (June 24, 2014). "Shed the 'Canadian Tuxedo' stereotype with these local, innovative clothing brands". nationalpost.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020.
  9. Tayler, Theresa (December 16, 2011). "Vancouver shoe designer John Fluevog dishes on Madonna and more". calgaryherald.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020.

Further reading
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