Johannesburg - Fashion is so much more than just what you put on your body. It is a form of self-expression, a platform for creativity and it has no age constraints.
Jade Kirkel, the former marketing manager of the hugely successful Sorbet Group, had this in mind when she created JoyJoy, the first interchangeable sneakers in South Africa for children.
The shoe, made for “big little humans”, is a simple white sneaker that is infinitely customisable with a range of fun, colourful, cool and even DIY straps.
Kirkel explained that JoyJoys are fully interchangeable kids’ shoes that are designed with a removable Velcro strap that allows youngsters to swop out their choices of shoe design as many times as they like.
“We wanted to think of everything along this journey – the comfort factors, the convenience factors, the parent factors, the fashion factors – but mostly, the joy factors of wearing shoes at a young age,” she told the “Saturday Star” this week.
“Beyond that – we also wanted to build a fashion brand that would make our little ones feel in charge of their feelings and their style choices, build their self-confidence on and off the playground, and at the same time, would make moms and dads feel like they’ve ‘won the war’ in the ‘dress-myself’ department.”
JoyJoy was officially launched in May last year and Kirkel said that despite its infancy, the brand has already been a resounding success.
“The response to JoyJoy so far has been overwhelmingly positive and we have found a way into the hearts and minds of our customers.”
Kirkel believes that what makes her sneaker brand so unique is that they allow for youngsters to be creative with their footwear.
“It’s one shoe that can be worn 100 different ways and kids love the freedom of experimenting with their fashion sense.”
She also believes that JoyJoy sneakers can help youngsters boost their creativity, make them a little more independent with their style choices and increase the fun side of getting dressed and wearing shoes.
“We set out to build a business that met the deeper needs of children everywhere as well as a shoe that ultimately helped build our kids self-confidence on and off the playground,” she said.
“Our mission is to spark joy in the little feet of young wild hearts everywhere.”
Kirkel added that the JoyJoy sneaker straps are also universal across all sizes, which enables children to share with siblings, swop with friends and keep them as their feet grow.
“Kids can be fussy when it comes to wearing shoes and JoyJoy really does increase the fun and decrease the fuss in the dress-myself-department.
“Our problem-free ‘Joylosophy’ takes the worry out of buying.”
Kirkel, who was instrumental in the success of the Sorbet Group, a chain of beauty salons across South Africa, believes that her JoyJoy venture was the perfect chapter in her career after her family sold the company in 2018.
After being the marketing manager for a decade and taking the Sorbet Group to new heights with about 200 stores nationwide, Kirkel said that she had a burning desire to start a new venture.
Then in November 2019, while sitting on her lounge floor with her now co-founder and high school friend, Dani Silbermann, the idea for JoyJoy sneakers was born.
“What we really wanted was to add joy to youngsters’ everyday lives,” Kirkel said.
She also believed that her time at the Sorbet Group was vital for the creation of her very own children’s sneaker brand as the lessons she learnt were applied to her latest entrepreneurial undertaking.
“Over my 10-year tenure building the Sorbet brand, I learnt one very valuable lesson: building a brand is not a metric you learn in your marketing textbooks or a formula you can follow, building a brand is the relentless pursuit of your purpose and having a deep obsession with your customer.
“It’s not about knowing your customer; how many manicures they enjoy a month or what skincare products they buy, but rather understanding your customer, understanding what they value, what they need from you and what they care about, and once you understand them, you spend less time convincing them and more time influencing them,” she said.
“Now we’re selling shoes, but it’s no different, we’re still selling a feeling, a feeling of confidence, joy and creativity.”
JoyJoy is also Kirkel’s first solo venture as her stint at the Sorbet Group was a family affair, but this has not discouraged her.
“Strategy, customers and creativity was my language, not inner soles, upper and toe caps, but each day brings new lessons, learnings, growth and laughter as we pursue our ‘sole’ purpose of adding joy to kids’ lives.
“And that’s what I love and that’s what makes it different from every other venture, because each day brings lessons, learnings, growth and laughter.”
Kirkel added that while JoyJoy is yet to celebrate its first anniversary, she has big dreams for the sneaker brand.
“We would love to explore international markets both physical and online, create and design some amazing collaborations with other colourful and fun brands, be able to give back and add joy to our local communities, and perhaps one day have our own joy-filled stores on the high streets of the world filled not only with shoes but with lots of joyful products,” she said.
“But for now, we will celebrate every sale, treasure every customer and relentlessly pursue our brand purpose.”