Slippers on High Heels
“Slippers with heels!”
The idea arrived with laughter.
I still remember the moment.
We were celebrating the anniversary of Hotel Bohinj when Jasna Dolžan Lesjak, Alpinia’s Head of Marketing, proposed an unusual idea:
“What if the slippers had heels?”
We both laughed.
Then we started imagining them. What they might look like. Where they might be worn. And whether they could actually work.
For years, our slippers have been part of the guest experience at Hotel Bohinj and Vila Muhr. Placed visibly on the bed, together with an invitation to take them home, they have become one of the small rituals guests remember long after their stay is over.
But this idea was different.
Not because anyone needed slippers with heels.
But because curiosity is a wonderful reason to make things.
The team at Alpinia immediately recognised the spirit of the idea.
Their two properties, Hotel Bohinj and Vila Muhr, are not replicas of the past. Both are contemporary interpretations of places rich in history. Buildings with stories, carefully renovated and thoughtfully reimagined. Spaces where heritage is not preserved behind glass but translated into a new language.
So how does a guest feel here?
Relaxed.
Inspired.
Surrounded by beauty.
Objects are rarely chosen simply because they are useful. They are selected because they carry meaning. Many are developed together with artists and makers, each contributing a small chapter to a larger story.
Heelies seemed perfectly at home there.
A playful object.
A conversation starter.
A pair of slippers quietly whispering:
Walk slowly.
They took hours to make.
One of the early prototypes.
The Challenge
The challenge was not designing a heel.
The challenge was designing a heel from felt.
The brief was short:
– only recycled felt
– no additional hard components
– no glue
– a simple, clean Kaaita aesthetic
I still remember discussing the first sketches with our designers: Sara Šmid and Katja Šarlija.
Sara’s visual studies exploring the structure of the heel.
From idea to prototype — in conversation with Katja.
Some concepts borrowed from honeycomb structures. Others explored waves, folds and layered constructions. Each attempted to answer the same question:
How can a soft felt material be manipulated so that its structure becomes strong enough to perform as a real heel?
Many prototypes failed.
Some looked beautiful but could not be worn.
Others worked technically but lost their elegance.
We kept refining.
And enjoying the process.
Not every prototype was looking for a market.
Some were looking for a question worth exploring.
Eventually, one solution emerged. A form that felt surprisingly familiar, as if a Kaaita slipper and a traditional high heel had somehow decided to meet halfway.
The final stage — attaching the upper part.
Will Heelies replace our usual Kaaita slippers?
Of course not.
But they remind me of something I often forget:
Not every project needs to solve a problem.
Sometimes it is enough to explore a question.
Can design be playful?
— Alenka Repič
Photographer: Hana Jelovčan
Curious to see where the idea led? Click.