Cork Company Keeks Expands Footwear Range with Launch of Adult Collection in Ireland

The needs of differently abled people have never really been high on many fashion designers’ lists, but slowly this is beginning to change.
Keeks, a family run adaptive fashion retailer dedicated to offering footwear and clothing for kids with all abilities, is thrilled to announce the launch of the Billy Footwear Adult Collection. Keeks has been providing Billy Footwear for kids for the past three years, gaining a strong reputation for making stylish and inclusive shoes accessible to families across the country. Now, with the addition of the adult range, Keeks is excited to bring the same innovative, easy-to-use footwear solutions to adults of all abilities.
Rob and April Mullen based in Cobh, Cork founded Keeks in 2021 after stumbling across Billy Footwear for their son Kian, and subsequently being approved as their Irish retailer. Billy footwear is a stylish adapted footwear brand designed for people with limited mobility or to fit over Orthotics. After launching Keeks, Rob and April set a goal to source a wider range of products to help assist parents and children with any additional needs. Their first 3 years has seen them add many new brands from around the globe and has far exceeded what they could have imagined when starting out.
Kian Mullen, now 10, is the inspiration behind Keeks. Kian was born with a rare genetic condition called Fox-G1 – which means that he is non-verbal, non-mobile and tube fed, amongst a range of other challenges.  

Rob explains “The company was set up after years of struggling to find fashionable and functional products for our son Kian. Over the years we discovered several products that had the ability to make life that bit easier while also meeting our fundamental requirement of being both fashionable and functional. The market is limited, but we have seen more and more adaptive products come to the market since we started. We hope this momentum can continue”.

Keeks was initially started for kids’ footwear, but April is now seeing an increasing demand for adult styles. “Some of our customers now require adult sizes and we receive a lot of enquiries from people with a range of issues from wearing orthotics, with disabilities, dealing with arthritis, strokes, and everything in between”.

Billy Footwear is renowned for its universal design, featuring a patented zipper closure system that allows the shoe's upper to fully open, enabling easy step-in access. This design promotes independence, comfort, and style, catering to individuals with mobility challenges, dexterity issues, or simply those looking for a convenient alternative to traditional footwear.

April added “We’ve seen such a positive response to the Billy Footwear kids’ range, with families praising the ease of use and stylish designs, it’s a natural next step for us to introduce the adult range, allowing us to serve a wider audience who can benefit from Billy Footwear’s inclusive, functional, and fashionable design.”

“We spend a lot of our time helping people find and size the right solutions for them. We are very flexible on returns, which is what is needed for people given the complexity of some of the products we sell. This a huge advantage when compared to the gamble people may have taken when ordering from the US in the past. Getting anything to Ireland was hugely expensive and returns are just not viable.
 
At times it has been difficult to juggle life with three young kids with running Keeks, but it continues to be very rewarding, and we wouldn’t change it. We genuinely feel that we have made life easier for customers by sourcing adapted solutions while keeping it stylish. There is no reason why fashion and a disability cannot go hand in hand”.