fleuvog - shoe artist extraordinaire

Not being a shoe person (yes, I do wear shoes, but don't have a closet-full and am not particularly fond of collecting them) I had never heard of John Fleuvog until I read the latest edition of B. C. Christian News. If you are a shoe person, you probably know that Mr. Fleuvog is a shoe artist -- a shoe designer and entrepreneur whose footwear creations are worn by Madonna, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams.

A few other interesting things about John Fleuvog:

• He opened his business in Gastown (Vancouver) in 1970. It's still going strong.

• His website welcomes visitors with this little rap:

"Shoes to vie for, shoes to die for,
Go on, buy one, buy two, buy four!
Cool shoes, cool boots, drool shoes, fool boots,
Men's shoes, Women's shoes, zen shoes, swimmin' shoes,
Sexy shoes, flexy shoes, shoe spray to protec' ze shoes,
Funky shoes, funky boots, spunky shoes for hunky fruits,
Platform shoes to tower above 'em, platform boot
(we know you love 'em),
Crazy boots, crazy shoes, blacks, reds, greens, blues,
Women's boots and men's boots, too
and, babe, those sexy boots are YOU!
Fluevogers, man, they're everywhere -
they're over here, they're under there!
John Fluevog knows his flock is vast,
a truly original cast,
For Womens footwear, lo, they flock;
for Mens footwear, they're into hock."

....and it goes on

• He is an outspoken Christian.

• His shoes carry spiritual messages. His Angels shoes read "Resists alkali, water, acid, fatigue, Satan. Walk in peace." Another message is: "Miracles are the surprise of the soul."

His philosophy about this (from his website):

"Moses used tablets, Picasso used paints, God used Moses, Alex G Bell used the telephone and John Fluevog uses shoes. Great minds of the past have used a variety of mediums to communicate their messages – since the beginning of time (or at least John) John has been using the soles and foot socks of his shoes to communicate with the world."

Also at this page, click on the hubcap and you can read shoe messages from the past.

• A memorable quote of his comes from an interviewer he did with Glenn Boettger, for The Christian Entrepreneur (reported in the CC article).

CE: How do you integrate your business expertise with your Christian calling?

JF: I don't see a difference . . . I've listened to a few lectures about Christians in the marketplace, and I don't understand the fundamental idea of why you'd need to have a course on being a Christian in the marketplace. I just think it's a funny concept.

As Christians, we need to integrate our lives with our faith -- and we are called to do that. It isn't like, "Okay, now I'm a Christian entrepreneur and I need to behave in a Christian way -- so let me check and see what that is."

No matter who you are, we are all called to integrate our faith. And the cool thing about our society and the century we're in right now is that a small person can have influence. Basically, an entrepreneur, for me, means having influence

(Read the entire Canadian Christianity article about John Fleuvog)

On his website you'll find pages women's shoes, men's shoes, enviro shoes, vegan shoes, speciality shoes, replacement parts, shoe families and much much more.

But I'd better stop browsing because if I don't, I just might become a shoe person. Already I find myself lusting after some Bellevues ("Keep pushing west and beyond your imagination") or  Adrians which bear the message:

Don't you just love it!