Sandals are an essential, practical item for life in the tropics, and, with typical Balinese creativity, one man is making them an item of beauty, whether on or off the foot.
"Our concept is that the product must be beautiful when it's being worn, and more beautiful when it's taken off," says Ketut Jaya Sugita, sandal designer and owner of WH Shoes. "Because when it isn't being worn, the sandal is seen in its entirety. So you could say it's more stylish."
Ketut established WH Shoes in a bid to create work for relatives who lost their jobs after the 2002 Bali bomb devastated the local economy. He named the company after his only child, Wahyu.
Located in a simple house in Denpasar, WH Shoes has 14 people on its staff and always uses local suppliers.
The women's sandals that are a specialty of WH Shoes are decorated and painted using modern and traditional motifs. Most common are flower designs: chrysanthemums, sunflowers, frangipanis, jasmine, gardenias.
In his designs, Ketut also draws on inspirations from nature both at home and abroad: coconut trees, leaves, butterflies, fish, even giraffes. Uniform across all designs are the decorations on the strap that match the rest of the shoe. Designs and colors, says Ketut, are made to follow fashion trends.
Ketut claims to have made around 400 sandal designs, not counting those that he says did not sell well. Most designs are his original ideas, although some come through commissions.
And he says he never runs out of ideas drawing on his two favorite themes, plants and animals, always giving them a feminine feel. Each design is usually made in a few different colors.
"At the moment I still use items that feel beautiful, such as flowers and leaves. But sometimes I explore things like branches. And I do the same thing with the animal world."
The designs and production can vary, depending on how the artist feels on any one day.
"If I'm in the mood, in one day I can complete one pair of sandals for a sample," he says. "It's rare for a job to take more than a week, even when I get many orders."
Ketut usually first draws his designs by hand on paper. The painters use these drawings to make the pattern on the sheet of leather that will cover the base of the sandal. He mixes the desired colors using biang warna (seeds that produce colors that are usually used in printing or painting).
The painters then use the mixed dyes to finish the insole, continuing until the results satisfy him. The team follows a similar process for the strap and its decorations.
"Sometimes when it's painted it looks good, although I might not be sure about the original shape, the color, decoration and other issues," he says.
WH Shoes also emphasizes the natural element: The sandals are 90 percent leather and almost 100 percent handmade.
"For the rest of the sandal we use wood. And almost all parts of the process are done by hand; only the cutting is done using cutting equipment."
The cow leather used for the base and the strap is easily obtained and creates a good color effect, he says. For the decorations, he prefers goat leather because it is more flexible and malleable.
The final step in the process is a kind of polishing to ensure the colors don't fade quickly. Ketut guarantees his products for up to three months, saying that his sandals can last for a long time, depending on how they are treated.
"If they are worn everyday, of course the painting will quickly fade. There will also be damage if the sandal gets wet a lot," he says. He suggests occasionally coating the sandal leather with a colorless liquid polish to help protect it.
As his sandals are proving most popular in overseas markets, they are made in European sizes starting from 37 and going up to 43. WH Shoes makes both high-heel and flat sandals.
They are sold online or directly from the workshop, and the company makes shoes to order only.
"To finish the orders is our priority so it's very rare that we have stock. Moreover, we only produce new designs to meet the orders," Ketut says. "Sometimes overseas buyers ask for new designs that are exclusive to that buyer and within a certain time."
Although at first WH Shoes sandals were sold only through one art shop in Ubud, they are now available in cities across Indonesia and even in the United States, Australia, Holland, Canada and Italy.
Ketut says he doesn't have many overseas buyers, but the orders are regular and the quantities ordered are large. The size of the company limits their production and he does little in the way of marketing.
"One order can be hundreds of pairs in various designs," Ketut says. "New orders actually keep coming, but I sometimes stop them because we have limited numbers of workers. These are handmade, not factory made. I must really maintain the quality."
He did do some marketing by creating a Website in 2005, but was forced to close it because of people copying his products. The copying, apart from creating a price war, also had a negative impact on his company's reputation.
"Some customers complained about what they had bought but they weren't our products, and they were sold cheaply," Ketut says. "When the customer realized the quality was different, the customer complained to me."
Not that the customers always had his best interests at heart. Ketut estimates he lost as much as Rp 100 million (US$9,500) to dishonest customers, both local and overseas.
"I thought all people had good intentions, so it was OK if someone placed an order without giving the money upfront," he says. "But sometimes after the package was sent, people did not pay. I was shocked that my business might have been made bankrupt."
He had to get tough, insisting that no goods would be dispatched until payment had been received. He also insists that local retailers agree to sell the sandals at Rp 150,000 to Rp 225,000 per pair.
"This is to avoid a price war which isn't healthy," he says. "It's hoped that the price is within the reach of all parties."
The wholesale price for a pair of WH Shoes sandals ranges from Rp 80,000-90,000 for the domestic market, and US$10-12 for overseas buyers. These prices are for a minimum order of 50 pairs, from a maximum of 10 designs.
