Fans of Thomas Mann’s jewelry designs might not spot the artist’s signature techno-romantic style on one of his latest pieces: a little pewter pendant depicting a parachute hoisting a shoe aloft.
But diehard fans of TOMS shoes will get the imagery instantly. The New Orleans jewelry artist recently collaborated with TOMS, the innovative company that gives away a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair it sells.
Mann’s pendant was posted earlier this month on the TOMS Web site, www.tomsshoes.com, which averages about 200,000 visitors weekly. So far about 225 of the $28 pieces have sold, and the company just placed a re-order in anticipation of the holidays.
Mann said the work is practically pro-bono, having reduced his profit margin dramatically because he believes in the TOMS effort. For every necklace sold, the company also gives away another pair of shoes.
The popularity of the pendant isn’t surprising. TOMS is on the vanguard of the social entrepreneurship movement, a new breed of businesses that merge charitable missions with for-profit motives. In just three years, the company has built a fervent fan club. Volunteers from around the world pay their own travel expenses to participate in the “shoe drop” giveaways held in far flung countries and cities closer to home, such as New Orleans.
Company founder Blake Mycoskie and 33 volunteers spent three days here in August, giving away 2,000 pairs of white canvas shoes to students at five local elementary schools.
While volunteers where fitting little feet, Mann had designed the pendant, strung it on a black cord and instructed his team give them away to the TOMS group. The pendants were such a hit, Mann produced more to give to shoe drop volunteers in other cities.
The connection between the jeweler and the cobbler came about through a mutual acquaintance, Connie Fails, museum store manager at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark. Mann has made several pieces for the Clintons, including 600 pendants and cuff links that Hillary Rodham Clinton gave away as Christmas gifts during her campaign for president.
“Connie called me and said she was coming to New Orleans in August to volunteer for the TOMS shoe drop,” said Helen Redmann, marketing director for Thomas Mann Designs. “I love TOMS shoes, and we definitely wanted to see how we could get involved.”
Mann didn’t get to meet Mycoskie when TOMS swung through New Orleans, but the jewelry designer has been following the company’s progress.
“I’m always interested in entrepreneurial efforts,” said Mann, who teaches classes to other artists on how to succeed in business. It’s a button-down course for creative types, with tips on how to price product, plan for market shifts and rising overhead costs.
Mann’s own enterprise is a model of artistic entrepreneurship. The Allentown, Penn., native learned jewelry design in a high school art class. He opened his first store in 1968 at 19 years old.
He started showing his witty, whimsical robot-like creations at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1977. A decade later, he had fallen for the city’s siren song, and moved here permanently .
Though his operation is based here, Mann said he will spend 240 days on the road this year, hosting workshops, giving lectures and attending design shows. On one of those trips out West, he hopes to eventually meet Mycoskie in person.
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