Two recent Louisiana college graduates have launched a line of “stylish, athletic slippers” after participating in the LSU business venture challenge.
Ben Seago, an LSU biomedical engineering graduate, and Joe Shamp, a UL Lafayette economics graduate, officially launched Leandoers on Nov. 11. The duo sold out their 100-slipper stockpile within six days. Seago and Shamp are now at Tulane University, studying business and law, respectively.
A cross between trendy slide-on sandals and a traditional house slipper, Leandoers are designed “for the modern age,” targeting millenials and Generation Z with a mid-level price point of $60.
Seago and Shamp spent the past six months developing the product and business model, working with a designer out of Boston that has done work for Reebok, Shamp says.
The online business relies heavily on social media for its marketing, with a goofy branding designed to cut through the visual noise of other social media advertisers. Since the initial launch, the slippers’ sales have climbed to about 200.
In the short term, the Leandoers team hopes to “make everyone’s feet smile and give them a great pair of slippers,” Shamp says. But in the grand scheme of things, the duo’s biggest vision is to be known as “the Nike of downtime.”
Leandoers has one version of the slipper available now, the Lean 1 collection, available in gray, pink and navy. Shamp said he hopes to follow that soon with more color options and a more sleek model called Lean 2.
