6000 Years of flip flops
Flip flops are among the oldest and most universal forms of footwear. For thousands of years, civilizations across the globe have worn them — from pharaohs and warriors to laborers and kings. The design is simple, functional, and enduring: a flat sole and a toe-hold strap.
Ancient Beginnings
Archaeological evidence traces flip flops back more than 6,000 years.
• Egyptian Pharaohs – Flip flops were found in tombs, including that of King Tutankhamun, showing how important they were in both daily life and ceremony.
• Samurai of Japan – Warriors and monks wore flip flops such as zōri and waraji, tied closely to their way of life.
• Greeks & Romans – Flip flops were widely worn, including by the Spartans, who valued them for mobility and combat readiness.
Worn Across the World
Flip flops weren’t confined to one culture — they spread everywhere, carried by warriors, travelers, and entire civilizations.
• Middle East & Africa – Used across empires and kingdoms.
• Pacific Islands – Essential for both warriors and seafarers.
• Asia – Standard for soldiers, workers, and leaders.
• Central & South America – Worn by tribes and great civilizations alike.
• Europe & the North – Even barbarians and Vikings wore flip flops for daily use and battle.
The Modern Era
By the 20th century, flip flops had become a worldwide symbol of leisure and everyday wear. Today, they are the most widely worn footwear in the world, found in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, South America, Europe, and across North America.
Toehold®: Carrying the Legacy
For millennia, warriors, rulers, and everyday people have relied on flip flops. At Toehold®, we’ve taken centuries of lessons and carried them forward. We honor the lineage of pharaohs, samurai, Spartans, and Vikings — and we define what flip flops were always meant to be.
• Worn by warriors across history.
• Trusted by civilizations on every continent.
• Refined over thousands of years.
• Perfected today by Toehold®.
And today, Toehold® has elevated flip flops to a level the world has never seen before. We craft them from the rarest leathers on earth — leathers so uncommon that most people will never see them in their lifetime. Rarer than gold. Rarer than diamonds. Each pair is a work of art, the kind of footwear that kings and conquerors of the past would have revered and claimed as their own.
From the battlefields of Sparta to the tombs of Egypt, from samurai paths in Japan to Viking coasts in the north — flip flops have endured. Today, Toehold® stands as the king of flip flops, carrying that legacy into the modern age with creations worthy of history’s greatest warriors and rulers.
