Behind the Design: UNEEK x IWD

For over 100 years, International Women's Day has been celebrated on March 8^th as a day to express gratitude to women, and support women's rights, empowerment, and success.  

And for the past three years, we’ve supported all of those things the best way a shoemaker can: with a style especially made for women to celebrate them and their day. 

Every year since 2022, KEEN designer Kanae Ofuchi from our Tokyo Design Center in Japan has created a limited-edition UNEEK sneaker design inspired by the happy yellow flower that symbolizes strength and has been given to women in Italy on International Women’s Day since 1946 – the mimosa flower. 

“I want to send mimosa flowers to all women with my feelings of gratitude,” she says.  

This year, Kanae has created the third iteration of her UNEEK mimosa flower design, which features mimosa flowers on the footbed and medial side of the sneaker. She added purple cords to symbolize justice, a color that was first associated with the women’s movement in the U.K. in the early 1900s.  She hopes her designs continue to raise awareness about the movement and inspire movement at the same time. 

“I've always been interested in gender equality,” Kanae says. “It's well known that Japan has the lowest gender gap index of all the G7 countries, and I often hear from my friends and others that they feel there is a gender gap. I've always had questions about stereotypical gender roles. So, for International Women's Day, I planned and designed a product that I thought would encourage women to be as active and free as a KEEN product.” 

Our versatile, open-air sneaker with free-moving cords, UNEEK, was the perfect choice. Kanae says that at the root of her creative approach is the desire to create designs that are easy to wear for everyone. Even when designing for children, she says she tries to avoid gender stereotypes and create products that can be worn by everyone.  

“I think I've created a pair of shoes that combine ease of wear with a special feel. I'd be happy if they made the people who wear them even a little happier.”

“I wanted as many people as possible to wear them, so I deliberately tried to strike a balance that wouldn't be too flashy when you're wearing them. When you're standing in the entranceway before putting them on, the floral pattern on the footbed gives them a gorgeous look. Once you've put them on, they have a simple design that goes well with any outfit, whether you're wearing a skirt or jeans. I think I've created a pair of shoes that combine ease of wear with a special feel. I'd be happy if they made the people who wear them even a little happier.” 

Kanae says she is happiest when her art makes other people happy, and it’s a big reason why she joined KEEN after studying textile design in college. In addition to the everyday joy KEEN shoes are made for, it was the company's values regarding social and environmental issues that appealed most to her. Now she is uniting the things she loves to spread love.  

“I feel very honored to be able to use the shoes I designed to spread the word about International Women’s Day,” Kanae says, “and I hope that this will encourage even one more person to look into issues such as gender equality and the gender gap.”