The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2021 - Issue 29

Time to Hit The Beach Cristina Lloyd welcomes FoamLife’s stylish and sustainable flip flops that are both comfortable and colour orientated. bitefashion W ith many businesses spring- ing out of lockdown since March 2020, FoamLife founders and like-minded friends Dan Macaulay, Timo Mullen and Karl Read decided they would create a footwear brand during the chaos. “They say that all change brings opportunity, and that pause proved to be the catalyst of change required for us to collectively envision a fresh and disruptive new footwear brand based on a simple shared idea of ‘We be- lieve that a life lived in flip flops is a life better lived.’” As athletes, artists and musicians who have grown up living a ‘beach lifestyle’, the three men say flip flops are more than something you put on your feet. “Whether you’re finishing a long day at work or you’re chilling with friends, slipping into a pair of flip flops just flicks that mental ‘feel good’ factor in us all.” Dan, Timo and Karl are also passion- ate about creating great products and brands. “With sustainability at our core, our aim is to create simple, stylish and sublimely comfortable products that don’t cost the earth.” Dan grew up coaching and competing in a wide variety of water sports in Ireland. He trained in marketing before spending time in Hawaii and California. Follow- ing his post-grad, he settled in the UK and worked as the European Marketing Director of O’Neill for four years. After this, he spent the last 15 years running BrandWave, the sports marketing agen- cy located on the south coast consulting for the world’s leading brands, including Adidas and The North Face. Timo spent his early years working in his parents’ water sports shop in Ireland before competing in the Windsurfing World Tour. With a few titles under his belt, he has taken on the world’s most gi- ant waves, including Jaws in Hawaii. His Law and Business degree led him to work at Animal for 25 years before setting up and selling his own successful clothing brand. He introduced Skullcandy, House of Marley and Deus Ex Machina to the UK Market and recently set up WiD- EYE, a natural skincare brand. Growing up on the UK’s south coast, Karl combined his love of the beach with art and design. He also worked at Animal, but as the Design & Creative Director for 17 years, before expanding into street and urban art. His years of painting murals have seen his latest sell- out piece, ‘Dreamer’, depicting a young superhero on a swing, go viral. The icon- ic image has been seen on skyscrapers in New York, large storefronts in London, and the Library of Congress to mark a historical moment and movement in the US. Based in Poole, Dorset, the founders realised there hadn’t been a considera- ble shake-up of the flip flop market in a long time. According to online fashion search business Lyst, the flip flop market grew by 53% between June and August 2020, as consumers shifted toward more casual and comfortable footwear due to Foam Life