It has been over a year in research, planning, and endless designing, but finally the wait is over and here we are. A fresh new brand look to match our exquisite collection of shoes made in South Africa. Froggie is coming up to it’s 30th Birthday and our factory has been going for nearly 50 years so we thought we would give you some insight into the brand and the family run business.
46 YEARS OF MICHELLE FOOTWEAR
Established in 1978 by our late Founder, Mike Gedye, Michelle footwear remains one of the few shoe factories left in South Africa. Michelle Footwear trades as the much-loved South African shoe brand, Froggie, which has been going for about 30 years. We are a family run business who care passionately about our product, our people and our South African Industry.
We produce high quality footwear, made from genuine leather. We have an Internationally experienced in-house design team that put together ranges that are timeless in style with comfort as high priority. Our factory staff are well trained & knowledgeable in developing, engineering and tooling our products. Sadly, our South African shoe industry has dramatically shrunk due to imported footwear taking over the market, but, where possible we buy and support local suppliers of components and materials.
Our main focus has been women’s shoes, but we have released a small high-quality men’s and children’s range. We have been successfully manufacturing school shoes with Barefoot Technology for around 15 years. It is a project we are passionate about for the simple reason that most adult foot problems originate from years of wearing ridged school shoes as a child. This restricts natural movement and normal growth in a child’s foot. We aim to be the school shoe of choice for all our Froggie Mum’s.
The Froggie Brand has been undergoing a rebrand for the past year and a half and is due to relaunch mid-September. This journey of “rebranding” is not about changing our story or who we are, WE KNOW WHO WE ARE. This is about telling our story.
Women want comfort, but not at the expense of style. Women in their 70’s tell us they don’t want to look “Granny”. They want to feel modern and stylish. We want to show them that they don’t have to choose. Where Froggie comfort technology meets style is where our best sellers always sit. Age is a mindset, and we want to be ageless and timeless in style. We need to keep evolving with life as it is fast paced, and we don’t want to be left behind.
We have taken a deep long look at our target market and who this “Froggie Woman” is. She’s a career Woman, a stay at home Mum, a single Mum, a retired Women, a devoted Granny, an active Women, the ladies that lunch. She’s every woman, every age. We see her, we don’t see age. We want to be the footwear and accessories brand of choice for those seeking timeless comfort, by consistently delivering experiences that inspire whole-hearted living.
Our Froggie Brand Vision is simple:
To create experiences which inspire people to slow down and cherish life’s simple pleasures, one step at a time.
Our Brand Statement is clear:
Timeless comfort for whole-hearted living
To view our new website and look at our latest Spring collection click here and for our New Men’s range, click here.
