Reinventing the Aussie Thong!
Picture yourself walking outside on a hot summer day wearing flip flops on your feet (Aussie thongs), then all of the sudden, bang you have just stumbled and almost fallen over because a strap on your flip flops has broken. Sound familiar? Well it is not uncommon.
So it is great to see an Australian company called Willi Footwear innovate and launch a new and improved flip flop so that you never stumble again.
What makes the Willi flip flop different? Well from almost every angle it looks the same as a traditional flip flop until you turn it upside down. Instead of the anchor point of the strap being a small round circle, it is a wide boomerang shape that extends the width of the sole. This prevents the strap from slipping out.
Not only are the anchor points of the strapping stronger, but the straps can easily be changed if the wearer wants to have different colours. Yellow today, red tomorrow and green the day after. Very clever!
Actually the shape of the anchor reminds me of another Aussie creation from many years ago and I wonder whether Willi Footwear gained any inspiration from the winged keel invented by Ben Lexcen for Australia II in the 1980s. That would be a perfect example of innovation or should I say ‘re-innovation’. Sometimes the secret for a better future is simply locked somewhere in the past.
Reference: “Going for a Thong”, Australian Business Acumen, December 2015.