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  Classic Klash (Red and Blue Sole) by Buy Shoes Save Lives
 
 
Our Price: $100.00


Stock Status: (Out of Stock)
Product Code: REL-0748

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Description
 
100% of the profit from the sale of these shoes goes to fund surgeries for Iraqi children.

How to get the right fit:

Buying shoes can be hit-or-miss. Buying shoes sight unseen might even seem crazy. But don’t worry, we’re going to make sure we get it right. Measure your foot in inches from your big toe to the heel in order to help us achieve the greatest accuracy. Please do not measure your current shoe or refer to your shoe’s label. We need the actual measurement of your foot.

Want more? We’ll take back any mint-condition pair of shoes if they don’t fit you correctly and exchange them at no additional cost.

Due to a demand increase, there is a twelve week wait for shipping these hand crafted shoes, as they are made after being ordered.

How the shoes are made:

Your shoes, called klash, start with this stack of fabric, strung together by strips of leather to make the sole. The sole is the most difficult part of the shoe to master. Bending the shoe and searching the sole for gaps and holes can test a quality sole. If a sole passes the bend test with relatively few breaks in the pattern, we can be assured that it is going to last you for the long haul. Owing to the physical strength required to make this part of the shoe, this work is done 100% of the time by men.

After the sole is completed, three different women invest no less than an additional 20 hours to carefully create the beautiful upper part of the shoe, with the topmost weave being reserved for the most skilled. Stitch-by-stitch each shoe is born, with every one carrying the unique mark of its maker. No shoe is perfect, as Muslim craftsman often regard that quality as belonging to God alone. But your shoe is made with great care, comprised of thousands and thousands of hand-sewn knots. The weave is so fine, you’ll be amazed when you inspect your klash close up that these are not made by machine.

Why this shoe is made:

We didn’t start as a business. We started as consumers. It’s nearly impossible to miss the wide-spread usage of these shoes in Northern Iraq. The Kurds have been making these hand-made shoes, by one account, since 600 B.C.

So as we walked the streets each day, we eventually felt like outsiders, being (apparently) the only men who didn’t own a pair. One pair, led to two, which led to three, which led to recommendations among our other non-Iraqi friends here. Before long people were stopping us in the streets: “Wow! You wear klash! How amazing… an American wearing klash.” We’ve overheard a number of exclamations from people who never spoke-up to us directly. It’s almost a guaranteed “in” with any man in the Kurdish region.

Before long we were sitting in the shoemaker’s shop with a couple of cameras trying our best to learn more about the process of making the shoes. Out of these days a short documentary-style film was born. It was initially just a way to show the rest of the world what was going on in a small corner of Iraq. But then we got curious…

What if it was more than a video? What if people actually liked these shoes and were willing to buy them? What if we exported them to the States and Europe and made a profit?

The whole idea of making a profit had already intrigued us for some time, as we were constantly running into financial barriers when trying to run our humanitarian projects in Iraq. Before long, we had a website up and running (though it still changes every couple of days) and we had sold enough shoes to actually get reasonably excited about funding our first heart surgery. By reasonable estimates we will be able to do this in the second quarter of the business’ life.

We readily admit that we do not come from a rich family or educational background of business wisdom and experience. We are learning as we go. Today we learn something new about marketing; tomorrow something about inventory management. Owing to our presence as foreigners in Iraq, we’re even learning a little bit about proposing a venture like this to top politicians, and how to be interviewed without saying something too stupid.

We cannot project what the future of Buy Shoes. Save Lives. is going to be, but the future looks extremely hopeful for a number of Iraqi children with Buy Shoes. Save Lives. and klash-wearing people from around the world on their side.
 

Average Customer Review: Based on 4 Reviews. Write a review.

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  1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 
Wonderful Shoes! September 18, 2007
Reviewer: Melissa from Camarillo, CA United States  
I agree with the person before me that my husband also looks great wearing these shoes!  They really are wonderful shoes- not only do they look great but our purchase was able to help Buy Shoes Save Lives give their first child an airline ticket to get his medical screaning done and get him even closer towards a life saving surgery!  Check it out! buyshoessavelives.com

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  0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 
a worthy purchase September 18, 2007
Reviewer: carrie from Tempe, AZ United States  
i love my Klash! invest in giving some life back to Iraq. buy these shoes that look really rad and help save the life of an iraqi kid who needs heart surgery. what could be a better reason to spend money on shoes?
Huge thanks to Relevant for featuring Klash and believing in the cause!

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  0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 
My husband is a stud in these shoes September 18, 2007
Reviewer: Anonymous person from Dallas, TX United States  
These shoes are going to catch on like crazy.  First and foremost, it's a genius product that is helping literally save the lives of children in Iraq.  Second, my husband looks smokin' in them!  They could even have a beach-y feel if you put them with the right pants/shirt.  Well worth the money no matter which way you look at it!!

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  1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 
The Klash. September 17, 2007
Reviewer: Anonymous person from Iraq.  
I've worn these shoes for 3 months now and I absolutely love them! Find out more about the guys who started it at www.buyshoessavelives.com They're close to funding their first heart surgery through selling these shoes...so buy a pair and help save a life!

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