Vessi co-founder puts best foot forward
November 08, 2024
UVic grad Tony Yu’s footwear company has taken the waterproof shoe industry by storm
Tony Yu, BA ’12, doesn’t have time for rainy day whining—he likes his weather wet, with a side of West Coast drizzle if possible. In 2018, the UVic Economics grad and his two business partners launched Vessi footwear, purveyors of 100 per cent waterproof knit-sneakers that are both vegan and breathable. Thanks to a successful $1 million USD crowdfunding campaign and a pandemic-precipitated loungewear revolution, Vessi has been keeping customers comfortable and dry to the tune of close to a million pairs of shoes annually.
Although it started as an online, direct-to-consumer business, Vessi now has brick-and-mortar stores in Burnaby, Toronto and Mississauga and is dipping its toes into the world of rainproof jackets, backpacks and accessories. Vessi has also woven altruism into its successful business model: During the COVID pandemic, the company donated shoes to 2,050 nurses in Vancouver and used sales proceeds to buy and donate surgical masks to health-care workers. Since then, they’ve made efforts to keep old shoes out of the landfill (or from gathering dust) and put them on the feet of those who could use them.
Favourite sneakers as a kid
“I had a pair of Kangaroos with the little zipper pouch. I thought those were cool. I would put two dollars in there or a loonie. It was like snack money.”
Favourite non-Vessi shoes he currently wears
“My Foot Joy golf shoes. I like to play golf. I also have a pair of On running shoes.”
Number of shoes in his closet
“I have a lot. But generally I’ll rotate between two or three—like your running shoe, your everyday sneaker and your everyday court shoe look.”
Impact of attending UVic
“UVic had a great exchange program. I was in the Economics program, and then did a year in Hong Kong… I met a lot of great people from all over the world. People from the States, people in Europe. I made more global friends and then saw the world differently through the travels.”
Other interests
“I’m into cars and kiteboarding. I’ve just picked up rock climbing. I’m really into business and tech, so working with great founders and scaling things up.”
Weather-free wardrobe
“We’re really trying to be a brand that’s a cross between an Arc'teryx and a Lululemon. So your everyday leisure, but fully functional. For our product it’s something like the weather-free wardrobe where on a super sunny day you can grab anything off the shelf and not worry about if it’s raining in the afternoon. That’s really enabled by our product technology and our design philosophy.”
Embrace the rain
“I think the brand is much more than waterproof. Our whole goal is to inspire happiness in the rain, to make sure these miserable, wet days aren’t that miserable for people anymore and give people a chance to go out and embrace the rain rather than run away from it.”
—Michael Kissinger, BEd ’94
This article appears in the UVic Torch alumni magazine.
For more Torch stories, go to the UVic Torch alumni magazine page.