Dallas Entrepreneurs Behind Hari Mari Help Fight Cancer

Throw out those dirty boring flip flops you have in your shoe closet. Grab yourself something more comfortable. Hari Mari is dominating the flip flop market by creating footwear made with premium materials and beautiful design. The Dallas couple Lila and Jeremy Stewart designed flip flops for the style and comfort conscious. Hari Mari has something for everybody. The Fields line is made with buttery-smooth nubuck leather insoles, while the Dunes line is made with nylon, foam, and rubber materials.

Hari Mari has been picked up by some of the top male retailers across the country as well as large department stores like Nordstrom. Earlier this year, Hari Mari produced a co-branded flip flop for the Dallas Mavericks. Recently, they partnered with REI and Allen Edmonds, the classic and heritage footwear brand. The footwear will be available at warm weather Allen Edmonds locations, just in time for the holiday and travel season. Hari Mari continues to push into premium outdoor, lifestyle, and boutique spaces around the world.

Inspired by philanthropy, the couple is no stranger to giving back to charities like Flops Fighting Cancer. Hari Mari donates 1% of sales to support children battling cancer, helping them pay for medicine, treatment, and hospital care. They skip the charity process and donate directly to the hospitals. Prior to launching the brand, the couple lived in Jakarta, Indonesia for three years and saw the poverty as families live on $1 per day. They moved back to the United States in 2010 and saw a business opportunity as they went shopping for footwear and only found bland, black and brown flip flops. Lila and Jeremy created their own flip flop business, Hari Mari, Hari meaning “sun” in Indonesian and Mari meaning “sea” in Latin. Unlike the common flip flop, Hari Mari features beautiful splashes of color for those that want a bit of fun in their life. By combining footwear and philanthropy, they cornered a niche market that also benefits those less fortunate.

Hari Mari flip flops range from $45 – $75 and are designed through innovation with the consumer in mind. One of the biggest complaints from flip flop wearers is the degree of discomfort by the toe piece. Hari Mari created a patent-pending memory foam toe, differentiating them from the common flip flop. If that wasn’t enough, they brought in an engineer from Teva to further guarantee the utmost comfort provided by footwear. Premium materials are chosen for each style, perfect for thrill seekers and sport enthusiasts.  

Not only are these flip flops for the fashion savvy, they’re beautifully engineered for the adventurer in all of us. Now available in locations across the map, it’s easier than ever to try out a pair for yourself. Lila and Jeremy are entrepreneurs in Dallas, creating footwear through philanthropic efforts. The challenge of innovating the common flip flop has grown Hari Mari to what it is today, and will influence where they will be tomorrow.