• Santa Monica "shoes" | paperfeet by TOMBOLO

  • 'morning Michigan winter" - Jimmy Tomczak, Founder

  • Underwater with paperfeet Sandals

Upcycled Beach Adventure Gear | Design. Inspire. Connect.

Bike Chainstay Protector
$11.00 Bike Chainstay Protector
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Paperfeet Minimalist Sandals
$29.00 Paperfeet Minimalist Sandals
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Reusable Gift Wrap
$17.00 Reusable Gift Wrap
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Like a tombolo connects two tropical destinations, TOMBOLO designs, creates, and shares upcycled innovations that encourage conscious consumption, creative reuse, and a get-outside-and-live mindset for a better world. Check out our goods here.

TOMBOLO defines what it means to have what you need at the beach – and in life – by partnering with designers to create innovations with impact.

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About
Once Upon a Beach

I live for the outdoors. I rally for adventure. I explore every day. So moving into my new place by the lake was like unicorns and rainbows for me: total fun in the sun.

Unfortunately, when it comes to being barefoot, my naked feet needed a little extra protection walking down the sharp gravel driveway and across the street to the beach. I wanted to be barefoot but I needed some kind of transitional footwear to take the edge off.
 
I hated my cheap flip-flops and I’d never spend $100+ dollars on those Vibram foot gloves. Five Fingers? Please, I'll show you Ten Toes. So I decided to make a pair myself. I wanted a simple sandal that felt barefoot. They needed to be fold-flat and packable so I could take them anywhere. In the process, I would toughen up my feet so I could enjoy all the benefits of real barefooting.
 
My first material experiment was Tyvek -- the same material used for FedEx and Priority Mail envelopes. They were terrible. I scrapped the idea until the following summer when, after doing a roofing project using a huge sheet of sturdy billboard vinyl as a tarp, I came up with the idea to use billboards to make the shoes. 
 
Billboard vinyl is triple layer fiber-reinforced PVC plastic sheeting. The images of giant roadside advertisements are printed directly on this material and secured to the billboard sign structure. Each sheet is 14x48-feet, weighs about 80-pounds, and often gets thrown away when the advertisement cycle is complete. Every year, the total amount trashed would more than cover the entire state of Massachusetts in a sturdy, impenetrable layer of colorful billboard art.
 
Durable, waterproof, & washable, billboard vinyl became the perfect solution for my footwear problem. Fast forward to today and meet the patent-pending prototype, "paperfeet."

I launched TOMBOLO LLC to make & sell uncommon goods for the collective good. We build both the tangible and intangible innovations that make the world a better place. Our functional gear encourages people to get-outside-and-live while embracing a mindset that champions creative reuse and conscious consumption. Paperfeet are TOMBOLO’s first success in manufacturing good. The shoes are hand-assembled right here in Michigan.
 
Paperfeet, by TOMBOLO, are pocketable footwear that go anywhere you go even when you're not wearing them. Try a pair today and stay tuned for exciting updates. 
 
Thanks for following our journey. 
 
Cheers, Jimmy
Jimmy Tomczak
paperfeet creator
Founder, TOMBOLO goods mfg.

Connect @paperfeet. 
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