Founder Meghan Whitney Higney decided to enter the shoe business after seeing a gap in the market for slip-on slides. Tired of the same few players, Higney’s goal was to improve athleisure footwear that was comfortable, functional and stylish.
“I was ready for choice. I was ready for modern material,” she said. “It felt like a huge opportunity to be able to cut through and say what could be new and innovative.”
Enter Message footwear. While Higney doesn’t consider the company to strictly be a recovery brand, Message launched in 2023 with two slip-on styles, the Shaw and Mullen, featuring its signature compression knit hugflex upper.
The magic, Higney explained, comes from two custom, patented elements: the aforementioned hugflex strap and its barecork footbed. Together, the components are designed to help improve circulation and reduce soreness, swelling and fatigue, while also providing support, shock-absorption. Plus, all of the slides are machine-washable.
Cork has been a key material for the brand, Higney added. The shoes are made in Portugal and the cork is made from unused and upcycled wine corks. It is harvested every nine years in responsibly- stewarded forests of Portugal from oak trees.
“I had fallen in love with cork,” she said. “Not only is it a carbon-negative material, but it’s impact, odor, and water-resistant. We have to hand cut all of our shoes. It’s a much, tighter, hand-crafted process. And I loved that, because that was actually a core part of our responsibility story. So where every factory told me this isn’t going to happen, the thing that people framed as a problem was actually a feature. We’re not going to have any waste and my customers’ foot is going to come in contact with this material that is not only of the Earth, but that provides all these benefits.”
And fun fact, to get rid of the shoe’s manufactured odor, Message infuses natural vanilla into the soles.
The shoes, which retail for $185, are available direct-to-consumer at the brand’s own site. Earlier this year, Message expanded its retail strategy by launching at independents including Goop and Market in L.A.
Looking ahead, Higney’s next goal is to expand the product line with more colorways and styles.
