Where did it all start?

Thirty-five years ago, factories or what Jaana describes mainly as stables or small workshops – were contacted by phone, letter, or searched physically, not from the internet. Kimmo, who was then afraid of flying, drove his car through Europe to Italy and Spain and went search for factories. When Kimmo was ready to head back home, the car was packed full of sales samples. Shoes, accessories, and clothing that might interest potential retailers for pre-orders. At the beginning of the company’s journey, Jaana and Kimmo began importing high-quality wool knitwear and leather accessories from Italy. The retailers they contacted themselves.

History – the long story short version

1990s Recession affected people’s buying behavior. It shifted the price range of the products in a more affordable direction, which means that some of the manufactures needed to transfer from Europe to China. In the late ’90s, Kimmo turned his attention to his then 11-year-old son’s friend’s shoes in the hallway – everyone was wearing chunky skate sneakers. As a result of this, SoWhat Footwear was established in 1998 and every kid from 90s remembers SoWhat Skate sneakers. The skate boom lasted for nearly six years. Back then the family didn’t have a separate store to sell shoes, so all sales were made through imports to resellers.  

Vision from the new generation

As the skating trend faded, retailers gradually began to dictate what trends and products should be included in the collection. In 2012, the urge to bring something of their own awakened again. Opening a physical store seemed like the right solution to allow the family to expand their product range through their own designs and intuitions. Jaana’s and Kimmo’s daughter Sara took charge of the store.

Soon after the store was opened, one of the shop assistants and Jaana’s and Kimmo’s son, Tino, took care of the store’s Facebook pages. They took a lot of photos to show the collection to the local customers. The outcome created a lot of interest from all over Finland. The flood of questions about purchasing the products online and mailing opportunities was eye-opening.

The online store opens

The Great Wow moment was experienced when the online store was opened in the spring of 2015. In addition to the store, the family had its online store.This was the point where it was clear that all collections’ styles were designed entirely from the family’s point of view. The fear that retailers would not engage in bold footwear designs no longer worked as a brake.

After a few years, shipping to Sweden started in summer 2017. Most of the European countries were included in 2019.