Hi, I'm Desirée!
I believe in a world based on love and compassion. I created VOES as a platform to showcase the love I feel for humanity, the love I feel for animals, and the love I have for our goddess Mother Earth and this incredible planet we call home.
It all started in 2008 when I picked up a book called Skinny Bitch while I was en route to Maui. One of the chapters in the book revealed the incredibly graphic truth of slaughterhouses and it stopped me in my tracks. At 28 years old, it was the first time in my life I had associated the food on my plate with a living, breathing, emotive, sentient being. My heart was broken and my mind was forever changed. Thankfully my best friend Kelly was with me at the time and all it took was reading 3 pages and we both committed to a complete lifestyle change, forever.
I love animals like they are my friends; my family. I see them as the true essence of love and the most innocent form of life.
In addition to my love for animals, I also LOVE shoes. I mean, find me a girl who doesn't!
Since first going Vegan in 2008, one of my biggest grievances has been finding nice dress shoes that are not made from leather or suede. I mean nice dress shoes; a nice pair of chelsea boots, or a nice pair of heels (like some Louboutin's)! It has been next to impossible. Furthermore, even if you find a nice pair, there is a high probability that they are made from PU or PVC which is petroleum / plastic and extremely harmful for the planet.
Now more than ever, it has become apparent how much our planet needs us and it finally dawned on me that someone needed to create beautiful, vegan shoes, made ethically and sustainably. A few years of research and product revisions later, I am delighted to have finally figured it out! Created entirely out of Love and Vegan Cactus Leather, I am beyond excited to share my designs with you!
I hope you feel the love I am sending your way directly from my heart, the energy of a warm embrace.
Thank you for being a voice for animals and our precious planet; you are a champion & a love warrior. Desirée
