John Fluevog talks shoes, struggles and celebration
Credit to Author: Aleesha Harris| Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2019 19:00:17 +0000
John Fluevog: 50 Years of Unique Soles for Unique Souls
By John Fluevog
$65 | Life Tree Media 
John Fluevog’s business is one built more upon careful intuition than careful planning.
“I built the business on feeling. One hundred per cent,” the Canadian footwear designer says with a soft smile. “Other than the fact that I thought that the brand was worthy of being more global — I always did think that — I’ve never had immediate plans. I’ve always thought that, if I have these really hard-and-fast plans, not getting there will make me depressed. And, I don’t like that feeling. So, it’s just been really organic. Everything has just sort of happened.”
The approach appears to have worked.
Vancouver-based shoe designer John Fluevog.
For nearly 50 years Fluevog has been churning out unique footwear designs that don’t adhere to normal fashion trends or style moments.
“I’m not chasing current fashion — that would be so exhausting to do that, ugh — and not only that, it’s kind of like catching soap in a bathtub. You can’t keep hold of it. Once you grab it, it’s gone,” he says.
Instead, the 71-year-old has become renowned for his recognizable footwear styles, which he describes as being, “interesting, soulful, original, unique, from the heart — human.”
It’s this element of intimacy — of putting a little bit of himself into each and every shoe style — that has earned the John Fluevog brand a dedicated legion of fans and followers who wear his quirky designs with pride.
“Basically, it boils down to that I threw my humanity out there. I didn’t do it in a quote ‘business’ sense. I did it because it felt good to me and I enjoyed it and I like the things that I did,” he says. “Life is hard. Right? Life sucks sometimes. And, if we can buy a product that makes us feel more human or makes us feel more connected to something … it’s not just the shoes. It’s the messages and the stories. It’s the whole thing.
“I just put myself out there and people attached themselves to it.”
Speaking from his flagship store in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood, Fluevog marvelled at how his customers, which include “everyday people, mostly professionals, and, probably, artists,” as well as celebrities such as Alice Cooper, Lady Gaga and Kit Harington, have become so invested with the brand.
“My customers have taken the name — of, if you want to call it a brand, to a higher place or a different place than I have ever anticipated. It has kind of taken on a life of its own. It has gone past what I ever thought it would be,” he admits. “I look at it sometimes and I’m really taken aback and humbled by it. It’s like, wow! It’s amazing how some people have taken it to another level.”
While Fluevog admits his approach to design — creating styles that interest and excite him rather than ones he knows reflect broader trend interests — means his footwear designs “are not always spot on the moment.” But he’s not overly concerned about that. In fact, he’s not concerned at all.
“I put out some styles that I knew were marginal, that I knew would not appeal to too many people. And then I also put out styles where I actually excluded people, and I knew that I was. Things like that,” he says. “But, many times, the shoes that I really like that don’t sell really well, they’ll sit on the shelf and I’ll put them on sale. And then I’ll look at them five, 10 years later, and they’re the ones that, when seen without the lens of current time, are the most interesting and fun and significant, actually.”
One shoe design Fluevog is particularly proud of from his archives is the recognizable Grand National Boot, a wedge-heel design with a latticework of laces and sleek material.
“It’s probably my favourite design piece,” Fluevog says of the style. “They’re very primally sexual. They look almost like a horse’s hoof on your feet.”
The designer will be re-releasing the beloved archived style next year in celebration of his 50th year in business. The milestone is also being marked by the company with the release of a new book, John Fluevog: 50 Years of Unique Soles for Unique Souls (Life Tree Media; $65). In the hardcover book, Fluevog shares the history of his business, from its earliest days to today.
The release, he says, is as much a nod to the company as it is to the customers who have supported it over the past five decades.
“One of the reasons that I did it is because I have a lot of customers who don’t understand that I was selling pretty interesting gear in 1970 here in Vancouver. And they’re not aware of it. So, for me, it’s a celebration of my life, Vancouver, in a sense, and it’s a celebration of my customers,” Fluevog says. “Because I couldn’t have done it without Vancouverites, specifically. Because they supported me. And they supported some of the wackier things that I did. I just had customers that followed me and spent their hard-earned money on my shoes. And, without them, I couldn’t do it.”
While celebrating Fluevog’s formidable successes in the industry, it also unflinchingly shines a spotlight on its failures. It was an element of his business story that Fluevog felt an essential side to share.
Sketches by Canadian footwear designer John Fluevog.
“In 2000, when my marriage ended and I lost my house, and my nice little hot tub, and I wasn’t living with my kids and my business was going sideways, the bank was on me — they were emotionally difficult times. And I wanted to put those things in there because I want to be truthful about my story. It is what it is,” he says. “I look back at those times as probably the most enduring times of my career. Not the good times. But the tough times when I walked that fine line and sort of crept out of it, as it were.”
Fluevog hopes those who read about his struggles take away an important lesson.
“I want it to be an encouragement to people that you don’t just give up. It’s that you remain thankful, you start believing in yourself and who you are,” he says. “An encouragement to small-business people that are starting out. It was tough. It was tough to the point of close to bankruptcy, or probably, technically bankrupt, although I never had a bankruptcy injunction against me.
“I had everything going wrong at one point — and I decided, well, I’ll just focus down and do what I do, and that’s put cool shoes together. And, that’s what I did. And then I let everything else go.”
Looking back, Fluevog says his business has been as much about his own growth as it has been about creating shoes.
“I didn’t start designing shoes until my mid-30s, because I didn’t think I could,” he recalls. “I’m dyslexic, I didn’t do well in school, I never went to university, I’ve never been to design school. I was just like a goofy kid.
“To find out over the years that, ‘Hey, I can do this’ — it had a personal level of satisfaction.”
His story of self-doubt and success, he says, just might provide an important reminder to people about themselves.
“All of us, within us, we’re all creative. We’re all made very creatively. And I didn’t — so I can therefore assume that other people don’t — understand how original and creative they are,” he says. “They are made uniquely. I was made uniquely, in my weird way, and I never liked it. I thought, ‘Well, somebody’s made a mistake here.’ When, actually, there wasn’t a mistake made.
“I’m fine. And want to say to other people that they’re fine. And, if you’re going through a really hard time, it’s fine. It’s going to be fine.”
Looking ahead to the next 50 years of the John Fluevog brand he doesn’t anticipate slowing down anytime soon. Fluevog still designs all the footwear himself, albeit now with the helpful input of his team — and it’s a duty he’s not looking to relinquish any time soon.
“It’s just like, my life. It has never bored me,” he say of designing while pondering the question of retirement. “And, when I see the product or see the samples coming in, I still get excited.
“My team says what they’re most worried about is a blank paper. And, so far, there isn’t one.”