When Indosole founder Kyle Parsons busted his sandals on a family trip to Bali in 2005, he had no idea that incident would be the beginning of a successful footwear company. All he wanted were some new flip-flops. This is the exact pair he purchased that day, over ten years ago:

Parsons was taken by the natural weave of the straps, but was even more intrigued by the repurposed fragments of scooter tires used as soles. He decided he wanted to start his own sandal business, modeling his products after the pair he found in that small Balinese boutique.

Originally from southern New Hampshire, Parsons moved to Lake Tahoe in 2001 to snowboard for the winter, and has been out west ever since. “It was a six-month plan that turned out to be a one-way ticket, and I never looked back,” he told us.

After he arrived, he began working in the snowboard and action sports industry, and actually spent some time managing the Reef sandals section of a retail store, so his desire to start his own footwear business wasn't completely out of left field. 

The year after his trip to Indonesia, Parsons moved to San Francisco in 2006, working as a sales rep for Palmer Snowboards, Ray-Ban and Bern Unlimited. But Bali was still on his mind. “I was working those jobs, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Bali," he said. "I saved my pennies for two years to take a trip back."

When Parsons finally returned to Bali in 2008, he found the store that sold him his sandals, with the same woman working inside. She agreed to sell them to him at wholesale prices. “She brought me back to a makeshift factory, which was in a house. I worked with them to source materials, and we started making sandals together." He loaded up a large suitcase full of the completed sandals, and brought them back to the States to try out on his friends. 

Parsons with the first suitcase he used to import his product internationally.

“At that point, I didn't really think it would become anything. I thought it was just a hobby," he said. The sandals at that point weren’t that great—some of them would cut up his buddies' feet—but he saw the repurposed sole as unique, and wanted to pursue the idea further. 

He ultimately found what he says is the only shoe factory in Bali, and partnered with them to source the tires and treat the rubber to give the sandal a more comfortable feel. Over the next year or so, he traveled back and forth to Bali, developing the brand out of his trusty suitcase (which he'd fill on each outbound trip with used American T-shirts to give to the locals). Indosole officially launched at a trade show in 2009.

Photo: Ashley Batz

Thanks to his work as a salesman, Parsons was able to connect with shops around San Francisco, and Indosole made its first 500-pair retail delivery in 2010. Still on a shoestring budget, he was warehousing his product in a Public Storage locker, taking advantage of their “$1 for the first month” offer.

From there, it was a whirlwind of fundraising and growing the business, including moving his entire operation to a house at 47th and Noriega. Suitcases became shipping containers, customs agents gave way to customs brokers, and Indosole began to see some success.

In 2013, Parsons moved his operation to his current space at 45th and Noriega, which he shares with the folks at San Franpsycho. Last year, Indosole sold 10,000 pairs of shoes and sandals—all with soles made from repurposed tires. 

“Indosole is not just about the sandal—it’s about resourceful living. It’s an example of what’s possible in the world,” he told us. “In that way, it’s not just about Indonesia or San Francisco. It’s meant to inspire people to take the blinders off and look around.”

Today, Indosole is still predominantly carried in California shops, but the brand has recently branched out to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions. Parsons' eventual goal is to repurpose one million tires into shoes, and Indosole's “tire ticker” currently has them at about 50,000—not bad for a company that started out of a suitcase.

As Indosole progresses, Parsons hopes to expand his operation to become even more sustainable. He's aiming to create a program that will allow him to reclaim the soles of worn-out Indosoles, melting down the tire scraps to be used as mats and filler for potholes. That will ensure each tire gets yet another reuse, or as he calls it, “letting the good times roll."

“We are helping to identify a worldwide pollution problem, and we're realizing that we’ve become specialists in repurposing tires," he said. "We’re now starting to see the big picture of what’s possible, in terms other things to do with tires. We want to take what we’ve learned and offer the world more—not just in fashion, but in waste-management solutions as well."