A Teva Designer shares how nature inspires our iconic strap color combinations and designs.
Continually reimagined in bold new colors and prints season after season, Teva’s eye-catching straps are as iconic as the original sport sandal design. Who dreams up this spectrum of color combos and designs?
Meet Elena Roy, a Senior Designer at Teva and materials and color specialist. We caught up with her to hear what inspires Teva strap patterns and how they are a blank canvas for infinite creative exploration.
Designer Elena Roy holds up a spectrum of Teva sandal strap swatches, including our 2023 styles.
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF! WHAT DO YOU DO AT TEVA AND HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND TIME OUTSIDE?
ELENA ROY: At Teva, I started as a footwear designer and now I provide color and material direction for the brand.
I’ve always loved color and materials. I learned to sew when I was younger so that I could make the things I would think up in my head. I have always curated a home and wardrobe full of color and texture.
Teva’s iconic sandal straps in the Bandana pattern.
I love to get outside and find it very much drives my creativity. I grew up in Colorado but have lived in California for most of a decade now, so I have a long-time love for hiking to a dip in a cold stream and a newfound love for surfing. My current creative hobbies are also based in nature: ceramics and gardening. Both give me that same expansive feeling that you get from interacting with the natural world. I find so much joy in getting my hands in the dirt and creating something.
The Diamond straps are a classic from Teva’s archives and have been recolored this season.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT PLAYING WITH COLORS AND WHY?
ELENA ROY: Color is so tied to emotion. I love that I can evoke a feeling with colors and patterns on a product. That’s what drives me.
WHAT GOES INTO CREATING THE COLOR PALETTES AND PATTERNS ON TEVA SANDAL STRAPS EACH SEASON?
ELENA ROY: I start with a theme each season. This idea educates the color and strap design direction for the whole line. Then I create color packs for each category and briefs for the webbing designs. Throughout the process, I work with a talented material designer and a developer that help bring the vision to life.
Elena flips through binders that include Teva’s archive of strap designs.
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS SEASON’S STRAP COLORS AND PATTERNS AND WHY?
ELENA ROY: My inspiration for the spring 2023 color direction was the elements of nature, so the palettes and strap designs were based on water, earth, wind, and fire. It was a fun one. The color palette for earth consists of a few shades of sage green that are complimented by a clay red, a muted pink, and a few sandy neutrals you would see in a layered rock.
Teva’s beloved Sun and Moon print on the Universal Trail sandal.
The strap designs are mostly abstract representations of these elements. The Gradient pattern, which is inspired by the sunset, contains color combinations that you can find in the sky throughout the seasons. There are also a few patterns that are more literal representations of nature, like the Waves and Butterfly patterns.
The Teva straps archive is an amazing thing. We go back to it every season and bring a few designs back into the line. For example, the Gecko pattern seen this season has been in the line on and off since 1985.
The Gecko pattern has been in the Teva archives since 1985.
WHAT IS SURPRISING AND SPECIAL ABOUT THE COLOR DESIGNING PROCESS?
ELENA ROY: The special thing about color design is that there is so much possibility. An infinite number of shades and combinations exist and each combination creates a unique outcome. The same thing that initially scared me about color design now feels so freeing.
WHAT NEW COLORS/PATTERNS ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT AND WHY?
ELENA ROY: It’s hard to pick a favorite! I’ve definitely been excited to wear the Bandana print — that will be my print of the summer. I also love the modern color and pattern we used to bring new life to the Terra Fi with the Shifting Layers design. An archive pattern I’m really excited about is the Diamond pattern. It’s a classic from our past and I love how it looks colored up on the Hurricane XLT2 this season.
Shop the latest Original Universal sandals here.