space_time

I hear that your girlfriend is a baller (and also at times. A shotcaller). Confirmed?

Hey Tal, we were sad to hear of Oliberte's factory closing. Your project was an inspiration. We're currently traveling, so hopefully you still see this.

My partner and I started a boutique line of women's beaded leather sandals and accessories out of Tanzania (www.swahilicoastdesign.com if you're curious). We funded the startup of the factory and then gave it to the workers to be run as a worker-owned co-op.

We started a few years ago and thus far, we've been focused on wholesale--mostly independents. We used to see Oliberte reps at some of the shoe shows and stopped seeing you guys, so we just assumed you started focusing on more direct-to-consumer sales. We've been reticent in investing more effort into e-commerce since shoes are so tactile, but you guys seem to have developed a really dedicated customer base. Would you be willing to speak to the challenges of wholesale vs. direct-to-consumer?