Women’s Vellies ‘Tsonga’ Sand Suede

Description

NAVA Apparel’s ‘Tsonga‘ Vellies are a modernised version of the original South African ‘Veldskoen’ in Sand Suede with a multi colour tribal pattern design cotton weave and tan leather trim finish. The interior of the shoes are fully lined with leather and fitted with fiber board insoles, covered in latex foam and wrapped with leather for your comfort. Our fiber board innersoles are much more breathable and durable, lasting up to 10 years which helps prevent soles from splitting in half. Fitted with 100% genuine eco rubber soles for  –  quality and good grip, which are hand stitched into the bottom of the shoes. All our soles can be replaced and recycled when needed. All NAVA Apparel shoes are handmade by local South African craftsman and women. Without their skills our quality products wouldn’t exist.

‘Tsonga’ is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga, and the name “Tsonga” is often used as a cover term for all three, also sometimes referred to as Tswa-Ronga. The Xitsonga language has been standardized for both academic and home use, making it the base language for the Tsonga people. Like with many other languages, there are various dialects within the Tsonga language group. See our Tsonga Collection Here.  

Veldskoene (“FELT-skoona”) or colloquially vellies (“FELL-ys”) are Southern African walking shoes made from vegetable-tanned leather or soft rawhide uppers attached to a leather footbed and rubber sole without tacks or nails. The name comes from Afrikaans vel (“skin”), later assimilated with veld (“field”), and skoene (“shoes”). They were first made in the 17th century by the first Dutch settlers in South Africa. Their design is believed to be based on the traditional Khoisan footwear observed by these settlers. The footwear was later embedded into the Afrikaaner psyche when velskoene were used as the footwear of the Great Trek.