As seen on Oprah and Sex and the City, footwear for the spa and slippers for the home are hot items.
By MEGAN SCOTT
Published October 27, 2003
[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
Odile de Candia, owner of Odile, 228 Main Street, Safety Harbor, shows off a pair of the trendy Spa Fleurs.
SAFETY HARBOR - The power of Oprah is amazing.
Just ask Odile de Candia, who owns a small boutique in downtown Safety Harbor.
When de Candia saw spa fleurs sandals at the Nouveau Collective Trade Show in New York, she knew they would sell. Besides being fun and whimsical, the summery slides were on the O List.
"The O List" features products reportedly discovered by Oprah Winfrey herself, unsolicited by companies. The spa fleurs sandals ran in the May 2003 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, accompanied by this description:
Slide these on just before the polish part of your pedicure, and you can breeze out of the salon without that extra hour of drying - Oprah
Thanks to Oprah, de Candia has sold 125 pairs of spa fleurs since she opened in August. She has the shoes near the window with the page from O, The Oprah Magazine pinned to the wall.
She has the exclusive in the 34695 zip code and was listed on Oprah's Web site as one of the places to find the spa fleur. She is also on the flowerslippers Web site.
"It's a great Christmas gift," said de Candia. "People like them. People from the spa come and buy them. I think they're great and fun. They make you happy."
The beachy style slides come in seven colors, run in sizes small through XXL, and have a stream of flowers across the vamp. The designer's name "Bonjour Fleurette," is written in cursive on the rubber foam sole. The sandals retail at $22.
Judi Flowers, who designed the spa fleurs, never envisioned her creation would bring her this much celebrity. She has been making floral footwear since 1999.
Flowers (it's her real name), who is based in Sausalito, Calif., has always loved flowers. While visiting Paris, she came up with the idea of sticking a silk flower onto a slipper.
"We knew that casual footwear in small, specialty stores is a huge category," said Flowers, who founded Bonjour Fleurette with Greta Longmire Yerian. "It's not really a shoe, so people can put it into their stock without being in a shoe store."
Bonjour Fleurette started with a flower-covered slipper that was both comfortable and attractive. The slippers flew off the shelves after HBO's Sex and the City characters donned them more than two years ago.
Then Flowers created the Flip Fleur line, which includes the spa fleur, the flip flirt, the lily fleur and the liz slipper.
Karen DeVlaming, the owner of Beautiful Transitions in Largo, has seen success with the spa fleur line and the flower slippers. She even bought a pair of each for herself.
"I wear them at home," she said. "I love them. They're the most comfortable shoes. When I get home from work, that's what I put on."
Flowers doesn't know how Oprah got wind of her shoes. Oprah is too big-time to receive products or read her own mail. It was pure luck, Flowers said.
Oprah featured the sandals on her show and gave each audience member a pair. Then the phones at Bonjour Fleurette started ringing.
"It just put it out there for everyone to see," Flowers said. "It got us in a marketplace where we had never been before."
The shoes are worn by everyone from twentysomethings to middle-aged women. New Yorkers pair them with business suits. Floridians don a pair on the beach. And others wear them as an after pedicure accessory. They are also getting into the high end stores, like Neiman Marcus.
There's even a fur line coming out for those who want a fun factor added to their winter footwear: the V-strap faux fur covered thong and the faux fur-covered slide. And, of course, more slippers and flip flops in a variety of colors.
"My biggest inspiration is, is it comfortable?" Flowers said. "Is it fun? Our slippers, flip flops put a smile on people's faces. I think they're happy."
For information about the spa fleurs or other Bonjour Fleurette sandals or slippers, check www.flowerslippers.com
