Keeping up with our merchandise orders has been difficult for me over the last year. I can’t exactly explain why, but ordering remotely off zoom and line sheets takes so much more time than ordering in person in showrooms in New York. It is just a lot to keep up with - and even as organized as I pride myself to be, I can literally sometimes just forget to place an order. I have done it more times than I want to admit.

One of the lines I failed to place was SOKO. We had it in 2019 and somehow just didn’t place it again for way too long. As we were looking for new lines online, Penelope sent me a link to SOKO. Her email just said: “this line is great.” That made me realize it was past time to place a new order! We are so excited to reintroduce SOKO to The Shoe Hive. Here is a little about the line and why it is so great, aside from the obvious reason of how the pieces look.

First, it is a women-led ethical jewelry brand with a tech-powered manufacturing platform to build and connect with artisans in Kenya. Here is a video to see the pieces being made and more about what a virtual factory is and the impact it can have on the communities it can help. 

So, not only are these pieces made by talented artisans, and the company is run by people that care about how it is created, and the artisans are paid; they are made with quality materials. They use high-quality 24 karat gold plated brass in a gold plating lab in Nairobi. The silver is created from recycled brass that is chrome-plated for a silver-color finish which makes it extra shiny and tarnish resistant. The cow horn and bone are crafted from a cattle breed native to the Rift Valley of East Africa. The artisans reclaim the material, which is a byproduct of the food industry. 

To sum it up, it is a beautiful line made the right way. We are so happy to have it back in our stores.