Meet the man behind the $19K shoelaces.
Colin Hart has a knack for out-of-the-box ideas. The entrepreneur and designer owns and populates TheCheeky.com with off-the-wall products that “mock convention and challenge pointlessness.” One of the Irishman’s more recent eureka moments met at the crossroads of mundane shoelaces and precious metals, equating to limited-edition, gold and silver shoelaces priced at, get this, $19,000 and $3,000 per pair, respectively. With only 10 sets of 24 karat gold and 30 sets of silver available, get ’em while they’re hot—as they just might be a safer bet than investing in the stock market these days.
Hart was on a business trip in Columbia when he came across jewelers making beautiful bracelets that looked like short shoelaces. “I jokingly asked if you could make them into shoelaces and they said they could,” he recalls. “Later that night all I could think about was gold shoelaces.” Hart quickly searched for something like it on the Internet and nothing came up. The next day he went back to the jewelers and had the laces made.
So far, Hart reports that his precious laces (which weigh slightly heavier than traditional laces) are generating buzz via social media. He believes the juxtaposition of an everyday commodity against the value of gold and silver makes for an intriguing combination. “I suppose not many people have thought about shoelaces as anything other than a functional item,” he says. “We have challenged this notion, and our laces are getting a great reaction.” Hart adds, “There is a precious version of almost everything—why not shoelaces?”
The laces are for sale at www.Mr-Kennedy.com. Purchasers of a gold pair will have them delivered by security and laced personally. Wholesale opportunities are also available.
As for the type of shoes that pair well with gold or silver laces, Hart recommends a style that doesn’t compete. “These laces are going to be subtle, so I think an understated pair of shoes may go well with them,” he suggests. —Meagan Walker
