How a Horse-Riding Accident Convinced Uma Thurman to Star in FitFlop's Campaign

By Andrea Cheng

Jan 13, 2017 @ 5:00 pm

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Last summer, Uma Thurman broke multiple bones in an equestrian accident. "In June, I was thrown off of a horse that I lost control of, and I got really hurt," she tells us, recalling the injury. "When you have an accident like that, you get really shaken up. I began to understand that this body of mine, it's fragile, and I have to figure out how to take care of it."

So when Shubhankar Ray, brand director of FitFlop (you also know him through his work with Pharrell on G-Star Raw), approached her and presented her with the opportunity to be the star of FitFlop's new and improved look that embodies an empowering message of support through its line of chic, healthy (read: comfortable) footwear, she couldn't turn it down.

"I know Marcia Kilgore [the founder of FitFlop], because she was my facialist in my early 20s and she turned her company into Bliss. She was all about helping women feel better about themselves, and this was kind of an extension of that spirit," Thurman explains. "So to me, this was a nice moment in my life to do a collaboration on a happy, strong campaign about being a woman."

Thurman was Ray's obvious choice. Inspired by her badass onscreen characters, like Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill and Edie Athens from Be Cool, he wanted to tap that strength and create a blend of both with a cool superwoman personality for FitFlop. And a strong woman like that would have to have equally strong footwear. Ray worked with the team to create one of the world's first ergonomic flip-flops for FitFlop, engineered to meet biomechanical stress points for ultimate comfort. In terms of aesthetic, Ray was adamant about introducing slip-on sneakers that not only boasts the same ergonomic elements, but were also stylish.

"Comfort brands aren't seen as fashionable, because people think they're boring," Ray says. "But there can be a different approach to fashion where it's still about comfort, because comfort is as much about confidence as it about looking good."

Thurman would be the first to attest to how comfortable they are (at the interview, she styled her slip-on white FitFlop sneakers with a chic navy jumpsuit by Hellessy). "Women have to be on their feet all day, running around and chasing after their kids—they don't have time to teeter around," Thurman says. "I've enjoyed doing luxury brands—it's fun being super glamorous, but there's another kind of glamour in wellness, and I think that's the glamour of these shoes."

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