Rykä. Love yourself.

Rykä, the footwear brand exclusively for women, is back in South Africa – imported by the Tekkie Town retail chain. To celebrate, Tekkie Town recently held a women’s event where ladies were invited to spend the morning trying on the shoes and talking to sales staff about which pair would suit their needs the best.

Ladies could try on and inspect the shoes at their own leisure.

The morning was fitted out with things a woman might enjoy. Female company, relaxing massages, huge pink cupcakes – and SHOES! The shoes offer a narrower heel, roomier forefoot and a more secure footbed – all designed to better fit a woman’s foot.

Tekkie Town's staff were on hand if people needed help with their shoes or needed extra information about the brand and/or products.

Rykä is designed by women, for women and aims to create products for women that want to look great and feel great while being dedicated to enhancing women’s physical, mental and emotional health and fitness. The range covers footwear for a wide variety of activities, from training to walking to trail running.

Jo-ané Paulsen and Tania Rossouw, brand ambassadors, were at the launch. They are very happy with the brand and spoke of how pleasantly surprised they were with the shoes.

The brand also believes in giving back. Here in SA, Tekkie Town are donating R5 from every pair of Rykä shoes sold to Journey of Hope, an organisation of breast cancer survivors (both male and female) spreading the awareness of breast cancer. As part of their efforts, Journey of Hope are hosting a motorcycle ride that will take place 5-14 October. They will depart from Ficksburg in the Free State, travelling to KwaZulu Natal, Mpumulanga and finishing in Soweto. Their full route can be found on their website: www.journeyofhope.co.za/journey.html.

Ladies were treated to relaxing foot and back massages and delicious treats.

The launch event itself contributed to the Light from Africa foundation, whose venue ART in the FOREST was hired to host Rykä’s reintroduction to the SA market and consumer. The foundation provides children affected by HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, and their care workers with therapeutic creative healing through clay.