What's in a name?

Hiya summer lovers, urban adventurers and etymology nerds! Welcome to our first Laiik journal entry! We’re so excited to finally be taking this first step with you on what we expect to be an amazing journey.

What’s in a Name?

There is so much that we are going to share with you as we slog in our sandals through the launch of Laiik. So, are you all strapped in? (pun intended).

Before we go any further, we wanted to start by answering a question we get a lot. You may have already guessed it… What’s Laiik? How do you even pronounce it?

First of all, its “Lay-ik”, not La-eek or Like. And it comes from the Greek word, “la-ós” meaning “people”. And if you want to get really nerdy about it, that word derives from the ancient word “Las”, which according to myth, were the stones that Pyrrha and Deucalion threw behind them after a great flood, and sprouted into people. That’s one theory why Greeks call their country “Hel-las”… the people from the stone.

And today “laïko” is used to describe things related to the larger community. For example, our favorite neighborhood vegetable markets (see below) in Athens are called “Laïki”… the people’s market. They’re stupendous. You’ll never find fresher vegetables anywhere. Go to there.

So we decided to name the brand “Laiik” out of respect for not only Greece and her people, but for ALL people who make the world beautiful and interesting; who are resilient and pour love into the things they do.

Those people include the unbelievable craftswo/men, tanners, designers, suppliers and friends who toiled with us to help us design and make our sandals. They’re the Athenians, native and immigrant alike, refugees, mothers and fathers, that we encountered throughout, striving to take care of, and improve this ancient and romantic city that’s always bustling with life and creativity.

We can’t wait to get to know you and for you to get to know us and the Athens we love. We’re happy to be here now to introduce you to our sandals and to Laiík. We worked tirelessly this past year to reimagine the timeless Hellenic sandal, and together with incredible craftspeople in Athens, bring to you luxury, handmade shoes that are beautiful and resilient; modern, but rooted in an unbroken tradition of quality. Like you, we wanted elegance that is classic, unfussy, and confident, and built to handle all the different parts of our personalities.