Sini looks at every pair differently after the trip to Porto
OPENING SCENE: The Helsinki store, rainy afternoon. Jaana and Sini are sitting on the couch, laptop open between them. Antton has just dropped a folder of photos from the Porto trip into the shared Dropbox. They start scrolling.
JAANA: "What a way to relive the trip. Go on then. Three wonders from the trip."
SINI: "Okay, let’s remember it was my first day on the job! So number one has to be how warm and welcoming everyone was. Ludo and Tammy from Malibu, Lenny from Australia, Anna and Maija from Barcelona. Within ten minutes it felt like I'd known all of them for years."
JAANA: "That's what it's like."
SINI: "I'd built it up so much beforehand. Different ages, different countries, completely different backgrounds... what if I don't fit in? And then I just didn't have to try. I could be me from the first hello, and by dinner it honestly felt like a family reunion I'd somehow forgotten I'd already been to."
JAANA: "Right. Two."
SINI: "Two. The phases of making a pair of shoes. So many phases! I think I knew, in theory, that they were handmade. But I pictured... I don't know... machines doing some of it."
JAANA: "And?"
SINI: "The tassels on SOHO and TRIBECA, someone is sitting there twisting them by hand. Not ordering a bag of them from somewhere. Twisting them. By hand. At the factory."
JAANA: "Yep."
SINI: "Then I started doing the math in my head. How many shoes we sell, versus how many people I actually saw working there. It's not a lot of people for that many shoes."
JAANA: "It's not. But they do it!"
SINI: "And they were so proud of what they do. You could just see it. And they were all wearing VIBAe shoes. And they all knew you, as you go there every year. Hugs all round!"
SINI: That's when it clicked. Every pair suddenly had faces behind them. Once you've watched someone put in the care in every stich, you can't look at the shoes the same way again."
JAANA: "Exactly."
JAANA: "Three?"
SINI: "Food. The sheer amount of food."
JAANA: "Oh, here we go. Everyone says this!"
SINI: "In Finland we eat lunch like it's a chore. A sandwich, a plate from a buffet, back to the job asap. In Portugal, lunch is sacred. The whole factory just... stops. Everyone is out the door at noon, gone for two hours."
JAANA: "Eight to twelve, two to five. It's a proper day."
SINI: "Nobody eats at their desk. Nobody rushes. Families and co-workers sitting together. It feels like people actually make time for each other."
JAANA: "We have a lot to learn from this.”
SINI: "And the food itself. Pastéis de nata, ovos rotos, francesinha, alheira. The coffee. The pastries. I'm sure I gained a kilo a day!"
JAANA: "Portugal does know how to fill a table."
SINI: "No country does it like that. I'm convinced."
JAANA: "So... worth the trip?"
SINI: "Worth every minute. I came home understanding the shoes in a completely different way. They were made with pride, and I will sell them with pride."
