Henri Rousseau and the Art of Honest Creation

What does a self-taught painter who never saw a jungle have in common with a footwear brand that makes clogs without glue?

More than you’d think. Both Henri Rousseau and SPA GAIT dared to imagine a world beyond the conventional and built it with their own hands.

 

Henri Rousseau - The Dream (1910). Oil on canvas

 

The Customs Officer Who Painted Dreams

Henri Rousseau wasn’t trained at a prestigious art school. He worked as a customs officer in Paris, painting in his spare time.

He had never travelled to the tropics, yet his canvases overflowed with lush jungles, wild animals, and surreal landscapes.

Critics mocked him. But the avant-garde saw something else: raw emotion, radical honesty, and a new kind of beauty.

Picasso and Apollinaire embraced Rousseau’s work, recognising its power not in technique, but in feeling.

 

“I felt before I thought.” — Henri Rousseau

 

Henri Rousseau - Apes in the Orange Grove (1910). Oil on canvas

 

The Footwear That Feels First

Sasha, the founder of SPA GAIT, faced a similar challenge. When she asked traditional shoemakers to help her craft glue-free clogs, they refused. “It’s not how shoes are made,” they said.

But Sasha wasn’t trying to make just another shoe. She wanted to create a tool for deep relaxation - something that would support the body from the ground up.

So she taught herself. She experimented. She trusted her instincts.

That’s how SPA GAIT clogs were born: adaptive, glue-free, and made from natural materials. From the first step, the coconut fibre begins to mould to your foot, becoming a soft, boneless extension of your body.

A Garden of Simplicity

Rousseau painted his own jungle. Sasha built her own workshop. Both followed inspiration, not rules.

SPA GAIT isn’t about trends or mass production. It’s about honest simplicity. It’s about creating something that feels right - even if it looks different.

Like Rousseau’s paintings, SPA GAIT clogs invite you into a personal world. One made not for everyone, but for those who truly appreciate what it means to feel before you think.

If you’d like to read more about how the brand was born, visit our About Us page.