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Footwork: Oliberté Boots bring jobs to Africa

Before I get into how ridiculously awesome these African-made boots are, I need you to recall a few things.

First, you know Toms Shoes? The California-based company that donates a pair of shoes to an impoverished country for every pair they sell in the developed world? It’s a pretty amazing company – the world needs more like it.

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Now, remember that old adage – give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day; give teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime? If Toms is the “give a man a shoe” company, then Oliberté is the “teach a man to locally source materials and manufacture a profitable, eco-friendly footwear line” company.

Everything used to make these boots – the leather, the rubber, the labor, and even the machines and tools used to put everything together – is obtained from Ethiopia or other Sub-Saharan countries. From the very beginning, it’s been Oliberté founder Tal Dehtiar’s goal to help Africa develop a thriving middle class through creating jobs – and what better way to do it than with a line of high-end leather shoes?

The materials used to construct the boots are simple and natural. Things like hand-stitched leather exteriors, goat-leather linings, vegetable tanned leather midsoles, and crepe rubber soles – they all come together to form a correspondingly classic and uncomplicated look. Check out Oliberté’s site to see the full line.

Drew Prindle
Drew is our resident tech nerd. He’s spent most of his life trying to be James Bond, so naturally he’s developed an…
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