Product Update
Is It's All About Shoes Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is It's All About Shoes from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy It's All About Shoes today.
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Gaynor Saunders walked into the Den in series 18 with a shoe you could take apart and recycle, and she walked out with a deal. The bigger surprise is what happened after: the business did not just survive, it turned into something else entirely. If you are trying to work out whether It's All About Shoes is still trading, the short answer is yes, just not under that name any more.
The short answer
It's All About Shoes is still in business. The company rebranded to Heelz and Toez, and that brand is very much alive, selling customisable children's shoes through its own website and picking up sustainability awards as recently as 2026.
So if you have been searching for the original name and coming up empty, that is why. The product survived. The label changed.
The pitch
Gaynor Saunders, a South African-born entrepreneur, appeared on Dragons' Den in series 18, episode 12, pitching a patented gliding mechanism built into the base of a shoe. The strap could slide up, down, and off entirely, which meant the shoe could be taken apart at the end of its life and recycled rather than binned whole. The same mechanism let the fit adjust to a narrow or wide foot.
She asked the Dragons for £50,000 in exchange for 45 per cent of the business, a generous slice for a relatively modest ask, which usually signals a founder more focused on getting a partner than protecting equity.
The deal
Touker Suleyman made the offer, and he took the full ask: £50,000 for 45 per cent. Touker has built his career in fashion and manufacturing, running Hawes & Curtis and Ghost, so a footwear business with a genuinely novel construction method sat squarely in his lane.
What made the pitch land, by most accounts, was not just the sustainability story but the idea sitting underneath it, a shoe that could be resized and rebuilt as a child's foot grows. Touker reportedly saw the bigger opportunity in children's footwear specifically, which is exactly where the business went next.
From shoe straps to Heelz and Toez
After the deal closed, the business evolved into Heelz and Toez, a children's shoe brand built around the same modular, recyclable design. Instead of a single adult shoe concept, the company leaned into customisable kids' shoes, made from sustainable materials including algae-based components, sized and styled through the same gliding-strap system that got Gaynor into the Den in the first place.
That is a meaningful pivot, and it is the kind of move that often kills a young company if it is handled badly. Changing your name, your customer, and part of your manufacturing process all at once is a lot to survive. Heelz and Toez did it anyway.
Where things stand now
Heelz and Toez is trading today, with a working online shop and a full product range of children's shoes built on the original patented mechanism. In 2026 the brand was recognised as Sustainable Footwear Brand of the Year in the UK, a sign the sustainability pitch that won Touker over on the show has held up under scrutiny years later.
For a company that walked into the Den with one product concept and came out the other side as a different brand entirely, that is a strong outcome. It's All About Shoes did not vanish. It grew into something bigger.
The verdict
It's All About Shoes secured £50,000 from Touker Suleyman for 45 per cent equity in series 18, and the business is still operating today under the Heelz and Toez name. If you came here looking for the shoe with the removable strap, you will find it, just with a new label and a sharper focus on children's footwear.
Common questions
Is It's All About Shoes still called that? No. The company rebranded to Heelz and Toez shortly after its investment closed, keeping the same recyclable, gliding-strap construction but shifting its focus to children's shoes.
Who invested in It's All About Shoes? Touker Suleyman backed the pitch, putting up the full £50,000 asked for in exchange for 45 per cent of the business.
Can you still buy the product? Yes. Heelz and Toez sells customisable children's shoes directly through its own website, and picked up a UK sustainability award as recently as 2026.
Why did the founder rebrand rather than keep the original name and product line? Touker reportedly saw the strongest opportunity in children's footwear specifically, since young feet change size quickly and the modular design solves that problem directly.
Where to buy It's All About Shoes
Still selling as of 7 June 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full It's All About Shoes deal breakdown and term sheet →
