The Comfiest Flats Are Made Of Plastic
I thought to myself, there is no way a pair of office-friendly ballet flats made of recycled plastic bottles and 3-D knitted could possibly be comfortable. Boy, was I wrong!
Happy to declare that Rothy’s flats are indeed the comfiest pair of flats I have ever owned. Did I mention they are machine-washable and help save our planet at the same time?
The creators behind the novel product are San Francisco-based Roth Martin and Stephen Hawthornthwaite, both of who saw the pain their wives went through in finding the perfect everyday flats (finally, men who understand!!) and who both did not have traditional backgrounds in shoe design (Roth was a director at a design gallery while Stephen worked in finance for 20+ years). They spent three years in product development before launching - talk about dedication! The duo also secured $7M in funding from Lightspeed Ventures.
In terms of the collection, the brand launched with two simple options for women: The Point at $145 and The Flat at $125. They introduced two additional styles more recently, The Loafer at $165 and The Sneaker at $125. For moms out there, they introduced a line for girls too (so you can be matchy matchy!)
I went for The Point in the Port colour since it pairs well with almost everything in my office wardrobe and offers colour without too much of a pop. Unfortunately, the Port colour is no longer available (since I made my first purchase a year ago!) but Rothy’s does a great job of spicing up their collection with new colours and patterned styles. Each time I visit their website, I see something new!
My impressions:
Noticeably soft and sock-like; similar to Nike Flyknit texture
Removeable insoles provide adequate support
Sides feel a little stretchy due to nature of material (more apparent if you have skinny feet) and are less structured than leather flats as a result
Definitely multi-purpose (I went from conference to office to dinner out in a fancy Midtown restaurant with industry peers and felt confident in them in all settings)
Maintained its shape perfectly despite chucking it in a handbag with items that could possibly “squish” the shoes
Since my purchase last Fall, I am really happy with my first pair of Rothy’s. It got to the point where I would show them off to my co-workers and made several colleagues try on my pair just to feel the difference (no reaction fell short of a “wow!”). I also bought a pair of my mum and my boyfriend’s mum (they are fans, alright!) which goes to show that Rothy’s appeal extends beyond millennials.
I have ran the gamut in the the flat arena (from Chanel/Prada to M. Gemi/Sam Edelman) and have never really found the perfect pair. While Rothy’s score 10/10 on the comfort scale, their blue signature trademark that runs as a stitching on the back of all pairs is minus one point for me from a style aspect. On some colours, I feel that the blue hue just doesn’t really work.
To sum up how I feel about a pair of Rothy's: Look good, feel good and do good, what could be better?!
This review was not sponsored by Rothy’s. To learn more about their story and the full product suite, check it out on their website. Let us know what you think!
