She wears her champion’s sash not just as a badge of honor and beauty, but as a symbol of responsibility and duty. More than just a beauty queen with an advocacy, Miss Earth 2014 Jamie Herrell is an entrepreneur driven by a lot of Filipino heart and ’sole.’
“It’s kind of instilled in our family to do business, but I always thought to myself, ‘I’m not going to do it! I’m going to do something else with my life, be creative.’ And yet I still ended up doing this. It’s there! Whatever God gives you, you receive and you embrace it,” shares Jamie as she introduces her first business venture to the media.
(Miss Earth 2014 Jamie Herrell)
Jamie, alongside her business partner Imelda Precion, is the proud co-founder of Isla 7107, a footwear brand specializing in slippers that marries the promotion of Philippine ecotourism, corporate social responsibility and the promise to deliver high-quality products at affordable prices.
“This is it! For me, this is the perfect slipper,” adds Imelda with enthusiasm.
The providential partnership was born just last year when Jamie and Imelda were both judging a pageant, and Jamie was encouraged to share her traveling experiences during her journey to the crown. Having been in the shoe industry for 27 years and being a travel-lover herself, Imelda immediately saw the potential for a business.
“Afterwards, we decided, ‘why not doing something wherein we can promote the Philippines through footwear?’ It was her idea. She came up with the name Isla 7107 and from there, that’s where it started,” explains Jamie.
(Ilocos Norte’s windmills find their way on a pair of Isla 7107 slippers)
As its name suggests, Isla 7107 represents the each of the 7,107 culturally diverse and uniquely beautiful islands that make up the Philippines. Considering herself a native of Lapu-Lapu, Cebu, Jamie communicates that she wants the world — and her fellow Filipinos — to know that there’s more to the country than its bustling concrete metropolises. So much more is to be discovered in in the unexplored corners of Luzon, little pockets of paradise in Visayas and in the Southern beauty of Mindanao.
“I actually grew to love the Philippines, because when you’re Miss Philippines Earth and Miss Earth, you travel all around the Philippines and you get to see how really beautiful it is. So after my reign, I didn’t want to be the type of person to do stuff just because of my crown, because I fell in love with the advocacy (of ecotourism),” Jamie continues.
On every Isla 7107 slipper, you’ll see that every pair depicts a province, city or region and what it’s known for. The brightly colored Bacolod pair showcases a pair of twin masks to remind us of the Masskara festival, while the Ilocos pair shows off a surfboard resting in the sand at sunset and a pair dotted with chocolate hills and a tarsier peaking up at its wearer is a clear shout out to Bohol. Predictably, one of Jamie’s favorites is the Sinulog slipper.
(Slippers depicting Cebu’s famous festival, Sinulog)
“We try to make everyone aware of even these tourist spots that are not really very known,” Jamie says as she points out slippers designed with tourist gems like Calauit in Palawan, Siargao and Cagayan de Oro. Their most popular design is the pair showing off the Philippine map drenched in nationalistic colors of white, yellow, red and blue.
“If you look at the hang tags, you can see that we have information of the certain areas and festivals of the country. We wanted our slippers to be beautiful, trendy, comfortable, durable but also at the same time, educational,” Jamie adds.
Each slipper’s design is contributed by an artist native to the province being illustrated. (In fact, feel free to submit your portfolio or best design ideas to Jamie and her team as they are on the constant lookout for new designers! They welcome anyone from students to professionals).
(Mayon Volacano in Albay is also an Isla 7107 design)
True to what her title stands for, Jamie further expounds on her choice of business. “For us, we don’t just promote tourism, but we also make sure that everything we do is environmentally friendly. We can admit that slippers are one of the number one contributors to pollution; rubber is really hard to recycle,” she elaborates.
The solution to this is an integral part of Isla 7107’s business plan. Even as a startup, Isla 7107 has reached out to two organizations that benefit from recycled rubber.
A popular promotion they have is to encourage their patrons to donate their old pairs of rubber slippers in exchange for a new pair from Isla 7107. The old slippers are then handed over to a butterfly sanctuary in Davao that typically cuts and shapes the slippers’ soles and repurposes their straps, turning them into little, sturdy homes for the delicate butterflies.
A partnership with Bambike, a local organization that creates bicycles from recycled bamboo and rubber, is currently in the works. Rubber for their bicycle’s wheels and breaks come from reused materials, and Isla 7107 is hopes to supply them with the materials they need through sustainable practices.
(Isla 7107 is a business with a cause)
When it comes to quality, Imelda assures that Isla 7107 is one hundred percent reliable. According to her, their slippers aren’t made form just plain old rubber. They created a special formula that mixes rubber with PVC, an elastic material, to ensure that straps don’t easily detach and that prolonged wear and tear can be guaranteed. The paint they use for their designs is non-toxic, too.
Currently, Isla 7107 slippers are available in department stores. Follow them on their social media accounts to find out which Isla 7107 branch is nearest you. Future Isla 7107 will be glad to know that their products are priced reasonably at P109.75 for women, and P119 for men.
Creative, proudly Pinoy and bursting with heart and ‘sole,’ Isla 7107 slippers are your gateway to beauty of the Philippines. Put on a pair, and let your feet guide the way!
(Some of Isla 7107’s designs)
