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Hi, I'm Jeff Kelley, and as you can tell from that sign right there, I'm the founder of Sanuk.

From a shed in my backyard, Sanuk has been on a long journey to get where it's at today. Please join me as I show you where I discovered my inspiration for some of Sanuk's key milestone products.

Make sure to look around though, there's bound to be some surprises.

Smile... Pass It On!

It all started here. The shed in my backyard. After years in the surf industry I decided to start my own brand done my way using new and interesting materials from all over the world.

The first thing I made you ask? The Fur Real. A sandal made out of indoor/outdoor carpet. Its been our north star, so-to-speak. That's why it continues to remain in the line after all these years.

You can look, but don't touch... nahhh I'm just kidding, have some fun.

Much inspiration came from traveling around the world. In a distant country, I whistled down a cab and hopped in. When I sat in the cab, my feet touched a soft, comfortable wire mat.

“Ah hah!” I thought, “This is my next sandal!” And thus, the Wire Me Up was born.

This sandal would use the same wire material to create another unique sandal design that the world had not yet seen.

“Ohmmmm...”

“Ah yoga, perfect for your body, perfect for your soul, perfect for your... feet?!”

While doing yoga, the idea came to put an actual yoga mat on a sandal, creating what is now known as The Yoga Mat. This made for the softest, squishiest, most relaxing and meditative sandal yet.

It has since become one of the most popular women’s footwear on the market.

It was always be your ‘ohm away from ohm.’

Back in my town of Cardiff By The Sea in Southern Cali, I decided to catch some morning waves. While running back up the beach stairs barefoot, I noticed how much easier it was to push to the next step using my whole foot than when I ran the stairs in shoes.

The idea then came to create the Sidewalk Surfer. By combining a sandal bottom and a shoe upper, it allowed my feet to move, bend, and react more naturally than in a standard shoe.

With the birth of the Sidewalk Surfer, a whole new realm of possibilities opened up.

“Why not make the Sidewalk Surfer warmer?” I thought. “It would be great to keep my feet toasty during the winter.”

The Chill Series was born shortly after. Adding thicker linings and different furs inside the Sidewalk Surfer would all your feet to able to stay comfy in all seasons throughout the year.

So what does the future hold?

Space boots, rocket shoes, astro sandals, moon surfers, sandals within sandals...

Well, who knows actually. One thing we do know is that we’ll continue to strive to make new footwear in order to promote happiness, fun, and most of all, a natural comfortable sandal.