Designer slippers win big following
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Fashion Writer
The name is French, but the roots are local.
Bonjour Fleurette co-founder Judi Flowers spent 13 years in Hawai'i, working as a buyer and manager at Liberty House, while her partner, Greta Longmire, was a Honolulu bikini designer and manager of the former Joseph Magnin store in the Kahala Mall who lived here nine years, Flowers said.
The pair were shopping in the flea markets in Paris with their Honolulu friend, Cammie Coble, manager of the Ala Moana Dior boutique, when Flowers glued a vintage corsage to each of the slippers she was wearing. Et voila!
Even the chic Parisian women asked her where she had found those "adorable flip-flops" and a business was born.
Bonjour Fleurette is a fashion-forward slipper company that was catapulted into fame when a pair of their Spa Fleur slippers was chosen by Oprah as a "favorite thing" on her TV show and in her magazine, "O."
In addition, after the slippers were discovered by stylist Patricia Fields, the ladies of the iconic "Sex and the City" flaunted their Bonjour Fleurettes both on and off the screen.
Slippers feel natural to Flowers (and, yes, that is her real name) as she wore them constantly when living in Niu Valley, Pacific Heights and on the slopes of Diamond Head.
She visits Honolulu often, as her father, Lloyd Talcott of Makiki, still lives here. "Once you're there, you never get the aloha out of you," Flowers said in a phone interview from the Bay Area.
Bonjour Fleurette hit the market at a time when women all over the world, even in the most urban environments, were making a fashion statement by wearing slippers on the city streets, at home and in spas and gyms. They are whimsical, bright and feminine fashion statements.
"It's an Island attitude, a California dreamin' thing with women right now. It's about treating yourself well. I stood on a street corner in New York last July and counted i six out of 10 women were wearing slippers," Flowers said. While five years ago women wore athletic shoes to work, they're now wearing slippers. (Of course, most still keep their dressier work shoes in a bag and change when they get to the office.)
The company's first collection was called "The Aloha Collection" and featured prints named after friend DeVona Legler of Kahala.
Bonjour Fleurette is planning a "Mahalo Collection" with beaded orchids and plumerias on slides and bags in vintage Hawaiian print canvas. It's set to launch in January.
The company has expanded from slippers to ballet flats, boots and handbags, maintaining a fun, flirtatious attitude with lots of flowers, beading, embroidery and other embellishments.
Flowers and Longmire also live aloha. Hawaiian music plays constantly in their 8,000-square-foot office and warehouse complex. Several employees are members of hula halau and hold lu'au regularly. "I have to have my fix of Hawaiian food," Flowers exclaimed. She even has a photo of all the employees flashing shakas in her office.
Last week she sent a crate of aloha to Iraq. A neighbor whose son is in the Army in Iraq told her of the desperate need for footwear there. She responded by donating 1,000 pairs of Bonjour Fleurettes. Bonjour Fleurette slippers range from $20 to $60 and can be found in Cina Cina in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, the Straub Clinic Gift Shop, Riches Kahala and at Maui Clothing.
They are also available in the Neiman Marcus Direct catalog. They are being introduced today at the Hawaii Sales Representatives Fall Extravaganza, so it's expected they will soon be sold in many more spas and specialty boutiques around the Islands. You can also purchase online at www.bonjourfleurette.com.
Reach Paula Rath at 525-5464 or prath@honoluluadvertiser.com.
