Sidra Qasim and Waqas Ali of Atoms shoes have earned the attention of one of fashion’s most prominent figures. They have teamed up with Queer Eye’s Tan France to release an exclusive collaboration.
Qasim and Ali are behind the Markhor and Atoms footwear brands. “We researched the highest quality materials, and we put all of our findings into a document called ‘Ideal, Everyday Shoe’,” Qasim says as reported Footwear News. “…Together we built a prototype, and we called them ‘Atoms,’ because we’d gone to the atomic level in search of quality.”
Atoms fill the niche of simple, comfortable, and versatile shoes
“We moved to California and we realized that people were buying our [Markhor] dress shoes,” says Waqas in an interview. He notes that consumers tended to wear them for formal occasions. “We were continuously questioning what changes we can make or what else we can do that people would want to wear every day and can we actually make a shoe that people want to wear every day.”
“We started Atoms with the simple desire to build the best shoe,” write the founders on their website. Atoms shoes feature antimicrobial copper insoles, which help eliminate odor, elastic laces which help the shoes slide on and off, and proprietary cushioning which make these comfortable, practical, and designed to be dressed both up and down. In addition to shoes and socks, Atoms has also manufactured antimicrobial and hand washable masks. What’s more, they have donated more than 350,000 of these to various organizations.
Qasim and Ali started both Markhor and Atoms as a team
Qasim and Ali both hail from Pakistan. For Qasim, this also meant a relatively conservative family background, as she recently told Humans of New York. She met Ali through her aunt, who was his teacher.
“We’d discuss life, and society, and human emotions. It became the only chance I had to exchange my ideas with anyone,” she says. “And Waqas [Ali] took my opinions seriously.” The two moved to Lahore and started a social media company before deciding to shift into footwear. Soon, they married and were accepted into the Y-Combinator startup accelerator program. The rest – both business and personal – is history.
Tan France collaborated with Atoms on the recent Model 000
Tan France of Queer Eye has teamed up with Qasim and Ali for the Atoms x Tan France Model 000. “These shoes bring together two of style expert @tanfrance’s favorite thing: Atoms ultra-comfortable white sneakers and stripes,” says a tweet from Atoms.
France recommends that everyone have a pair of white sneakers among the staples in their wardrobe, and these have an interesting pop of blue color in the stripes.
Atoms x Tan France Model 000.
These shoes bring together two of style expert @tanfrance’s favorite things: Atoms ultra-comfortable white sneakers and stripes.
Available for pre-sale from 2/23-3/2.
Text "Tan France" to +1 (917) 540-8458 to sign up for updates. pic.twitter.com/9LOEZq8ykv
— Atoms (@WearAtoms) February 16, 2021
Shop Atoms shoes here, or find the more formal Markhor shoes here.
