ARTISTS

SCULPTOR

The founder of Ocean Sole, Julie Church, came up with the idea of making art objects from washed-up flipflops during a beach clean-up campaign in Africa. She encouraged local Kenyan women to collect the flip-flops on the beach, clean them and cut them into small pieces. Glued together again, they were to become artistic objects and aesthetically colourful animal figures that the women could sell at the markets in the city. Thus begins the success story of an African label that inspires art collectors and sustainability fans all over the world.

Over the past 15 years, Ocean Sole, which specialises in upcycling art, has grown into a non-profit company with over 50 permanent employees. Ocean Sole collects around one million flip-flops every year. The company is based in Nairobi and impacts the daily lives of nearly 1000 Kenyans. Each year, Ocean Sole donates 10 to 15 percent of its total sales to support beach clean-ups in Africa and/or local and regional education and arts projects.

For sale exclusively in Switzerland at Galerie Adrienne Desbiolles