From early on in her life, Tessa Manning knew she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. “An artist, a skier and a millionaire,” she laughs.
While she hasn’t exactly achieved all her childhood dreams, Manning has come close, with years of telemark skiing under her belt along with her own artistic business, Tessa Clogs. The company combines Manning’s passion for creating and painting with her Swedish heritage to provide carefully crafted, one-of-a-kind clogs to all her customers, myself included.
Photos courtesy of Tessa Clogs
Being the middle daughter of Tessa Manning, I have had my share of colorful clogs from as early as I can remember and consider myself to be an experienced clog wearer, whether that be while hiking, after skiing or anywhere around the town. Based out of the Vail Valley, Tessa Clogs offers distinctive shoes, clothing and other gifts from the heart of Minturn.
However, clog-making was not the first thing on her mind when coming to the area. As with most people who moved to Vail, Manning left her home in Sweden to visit and explore Colorado’s ski culture and mountain adventures. It wasn’t until years later she realized there might be a place for her here in the business of clog painting and making.
“I had just started painting my own clogs, and people always commented on them, so then I thought I better start doing it to sell,” Manning explains. Thus, with the help of her husband Chris Manning, Swedish Clog Cabin was born.
“At this point, all the clogs were imported from Sweden, and I just hand painted them,” she recalls of her earlier days with the Swedish Clog Cabin and Tessa Clogs business. Many of these painted clogs would include intricate flowers, animals and traditional Swedish designs. As the business continued to grow, Manning kept on creating things, from sewing clothing and painting gifts to much more.
“I had started making my own sandals by hand without machines,” Manning shares. “I started teaching myself, figuring it out by knowing how to sew clothes. I learned how to make clogs just with my hands and some hammers, and it kind of progressed from there.”
Soon after, Manning bought a collection of clog-making machines and opened a small factory in the Meadow Mountain Business Park. Just before the COVID pandemic hit, Swedish Clog Cabin had lost its storefront, and the Tessa Clogs business made a full transition into the factory with an accompanying showroom. With help from the prior factory owners and her personal dedication, Manning learned how to produce clogs from scratch.
“Having my own factory to actually make the clogs myself has enabled me to start making a lot of different styles,” she shares. “It has also allowed me to do all kinds of color combinations which I hadn’t been able to do when we imported them from Sweden,” she adds.