(georgianjournal.ge) Get Bebbo. Keep your feet warm and preserve old Georgian tradition. This is the new creative campaign that offers handmade slippers with colorful patterns made from 100 percent natural wool. 20-year-old Zuka Alavidze, author of this project, is a Georgian citizen who is currently doing an undergraduate degree for Finance and Management at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Zuka’s creative idea to introduce Georgian culture to other nations and at the same time provide people with a pair of soft, warm, comfortable and colorful footwear has been met with great interest and positive feedback by locals as well as the international community. As a reminder, Alavidze posted a video of how to make traditional Bebbo slippers on Kickstarter, a special platform that helps entrepreneurs find the resources they needed to bring their ideas to life. At least £5,000 (about 18,000 GEL) should be raised by November 1, 2015, to carry out this project successfully.
“I loved woolen slippers with varying patterns that my grandmother used to knit for me when I was a kid.”
In order to learn more about Bebbo, Georgian Journal contacted the founder of the project.
– How was the idea to create Bebbo born and what is the primary aim of the campaign?
– I loved woolen slippers with varying patterns that my grandmother used to knit for me when I was a kid. When I grew up, I always would take a few pairs of this footwear with me and present them to my foreign friends when travelling abroad. My foreign friends liked grandma’s handmade slippers so much that I decided to share the family tradition and comfort provided by this footwear to more people.
Around two years ago, I bought a hat from an English website. This online shop was quite interactive, allowing customers to choose the material, color and size to their taste. This gave me the idea to spread handmade footwear to the world using a similar website. However, I was far away from my country and pretty busy at the university back then, so I could not bring my plan to fruition.
“We decided to call the footwear Bebbo, since in Georgian it means grandmother and as a rule, bebos knit socks for their grandchildren.”
Eventually, I brought up this initiative in front of my friends. Entering a foreign market is not an easy task; a product requires branding, to begin with. After brainstorming for several days, we chose a cute sheep for a logo and we called it Bebbo, since in Georgian it means grandmother and as a rule, bebos knit socks for their grandchildren. I think we coped with the task and the final result turned out quite decent.
The primary aim is very simple: to allow more people learn about Georgia, its traditions and culture. For this purpose, the customers would be able to choose only from traditional colors and patterns offered on the website. Although this will limit the choice of colors and patterns, it will also help preserve the traditions and values that the knitted slippers from Tusheti (Georgia’s highland region, where many old handicraft traditions come from) possess and which are so important for us.
“A customer from any corner of the world will be able to purchase Bebbo, based on their preferred design and taste.”
– What are your plans in case you raise the money you require?
– If the necessary sum of money is accumulated by November 1st, we will start producing Bebbo slippers – those who backed us on Kickstarter will be on the top of the list, of course. In addition, we are working on our website, where customers from any corner of the world will be able to purchase Bebbo, based on their preferred design and taste. Most importantly, Bebbo will be produced in Georgia, by its local denizens, in order to maintain and transfer the handicraft tradition from generation to generation.
– How would you assess the interest and reaction received from public?
– To be honest, I could not have imagined that Bebbo would attract so much interest from both the people and the media. It makes me very happy. Despite the fact that we have not yet accumulated the required sum, we are extremely glad that the effort we put into this project has already been appreciated. We hope that we will manage raise the money we need on Kickstarter in order to introduce Bebbo to the entire world. Remember, we still need your support until November 1st – and are immensely grateful for it!
You can buy Bebbo here
Video: Buy handmade slippers Bebbo and preserve old Georgian tradition
Winter is coming and if you want your feet to stay warm, you have to get Bebbo – Georgian 100 percent natural woolen slippers.
A Georgian, Zuka Alavidze who presently resides in the United Kingdom decided to introduce traditional Georgian handmade footwear to the entire world and simultaneously preserve this unique tradition through launching his project.
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