The humble Veldskoen an international trend

It certainly isn't uncommon to see the return of trends many years after we breathed a sigh of relief in the belief that we'd seen the last of the flowing kaftans and high waist trousers of the 70's or the big hair and jumpsuits of the 80's. Not that uncommon, either, you might argue to see clothes or shoes originally designed for their practical wearability - like cowboy boots, riding boots, jodhpurs and even overalls - to have their moment on the catwalk. I do wonder, however, how many South Africans would ever have foreseen the rise in popularity of the humble Veldskoen (fɛltskʊn) or vellies. 

Yes friends and fashion trendsters, the origin of those funky comfortable 'desert boots' find their humble beginnings in South Africa as the velskoen (later veldskoen) and have for the greater part of my life time, been reserved for dads, farmers and those likely to opt for two-tone shirts.

Nathan Clark may have popularised the 'desert boot' design, but these shoes have been around since before The Great Trek  (they are thought to find their origin withe Khoisan) and it's actually Shier Veldskoen, who hold the title of most popular brand. Amazing that this Swartkopmund based company has been going since 1938, but it's not surprising when you see how they have adapted their product to move with the times and current trends.

How cool are these guys in their veldskoen/desert boots? Copyright Shier Shoes.

I love the fun and funky homepage images, which have fun incorporating the brand's origin and location with current trends.  Shier shoes is perhaps not the company which immediately springs to mind when considering brand development, but it certainly will now be on my radar.

These hide vellies are great. I wonder if I can convince my father-in-law to donate his most recently acquired skin towards a pair of these for me? 

I know that his wife will be on board with anything shoe related.

Fashion facts to drop into casually drop into conversation over the weekend.

Hope it is a fabulous one.

Nikki, Alex and Nick (whose hunt for desert boots inspired this post.)

'Boet, it's vellies you're after and we can't wait to see them'.

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This information is courtesy of the ever faithful Wikipedia. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

Our new video courtesy of LPS Films

Preparing for our most recent shoot by flicking through model profiles I stumble across a short film which one of the models has made. The film is great and I think, 'How cool would it be to have a short film of our upcoming shoot?'

'Amazing, just amazingly cool.'

Furiously Googling away to find the credited LPS Films, I stumble across their (later discover that they is a he and he is Luke Sheldon) Facebook page. I rattle off a short message to explain how I found LPS Films and would he be interested in coming along to our shoot to make a similarly, yet very different film? It would be grand for Curious Orange. Would it be grand for LPS Films style note.

Then comes the speculative wait, where I run through every possible response I can imagine - no exaggeration on the every possible option either. 
Perhaps he will be keen to make a film, perhaps he won't, perhaps he is sailing around the world and would love to join us, but being on the other side of the world makes it impossible.  I wonder how much a ticket from the other side of the world would cost and whether Branson's support of young - or not so young - entrepreneurs might extend to getting LPS Films to and from his sailing trip for the shoot. 
A thankfully quick, short, positive response -  

'I am always interested in helping people out with film.'
'Seriously?!'
'Was it Saturday or Sunday you were planning on shooting' - 
this availed me from awkwardly phrased 'Dear Virgin Sponsorship Person', titled letters.

So it came to be that on a rainy Sunday morning Luke and Kelsey joined us for our location shoot at Clare College.
Patiently waiting as I chat to Meg (yes, the amazing make-up artist) about the outfits we're shooting and brief our fantastic models Natalia, Liv, Amber, Drew and Sam on the schedule for the day.
Luke's resolute calmness is unnervingly calming.
Everyone is manically getting ready, hair and make-up is in full swing, I'm introducing him to the models, showing him the garments and he's calmly going along with it all.
Kelsey immediately offers to help in anyway she can.
'I don't have anything in particular to do so I'm here to help you.'
Seriously, this is a woman after my own heart.

Moving from scene to scene Kelsey is stuck in, helping carry props and chatting to the models. I keep checking to see whether Luke is getting the footage he needs as he quietly and unobtrusively gets on with filming. 
'Just shout if you need to do a retake or have a suggestion or request.'
'Yeh, I think we're fine.' Luke assures me.

Hours later, all completely exhausted after two days of shooting. We are packing up and saying what seem to be rather unsubstantial farewells and thanks to  a wonderful team of people who have worked unimaginably hard for the last 48 hours all the while smiling and joking as they work their good looks and talent. 
Five days later Luke is in touch with the final version of our film.
It is brilliant! I immediately send it on to Alex and Nick. Equally impressed we battle to hold back on showing friends until the new site launches with the clip set to feature on our homepage. A small group huddle around Alex's phone at a bbq to view the clip.

So impressed and thankful for all Luke's hard work. I thought you'd be eager to see it too.

Curious Orange from LPSfilms on Vimeo.


We would love to hear your thoughts on our first film so add those comments.



So looking forward to working on our next Curious Orange project with LPS Films, but in the interim we're teaming up to produce a promotional piece for a great new web app.

Nikki

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If you're looking for a film maker you can get in touch with Luke Sheldon at LPS Films via Facebook.

Models: Amber, Andre, Natalia, Liv and Sam. Hair and make-up: Meg Lindow. Film: Luke Sheldon at LPS Films. Styling: Nikki Finnemore.

This film is the copyright of LPSFilms