👣 Can Footwear Really ‘Regenerate’ My Feet? Barely so it seems…

New Shoes and a ‘posture-in-progress’

With bad posture and flat feet being features of mine for as long as I can remember, the promise of rectifying this got me rather excited. A couple of months back, a friend of mine whom I met during my time in China was wearing these so-called ‘barefoot’ shoes, a term very much new to me at the time. Their aim was to provide as little structural support, while also giving some basic protection. At first, their wide toe box and flimsy sole seemed a tad clownish in appearance, but after quickly getting over my socially conditioned shoe prejudices, I was keen to find out the real reasoning behind why he had made the switch. One must start with why the modern design for shoes does so much damage to our feet. The staple features of modern shoe design consist of a thick sole, large padded heel, and narrow toe box; with these all being essentially products of trends in fashion and culture, as opposed to having been molded on the biomechanics of the foot.

As a result, our feet have become weak and contorted to fit this unnatural mould. Problems that can have far-reaching effects on the rest of our body like our knees and ankles, and up to our back. By slowly transitioning to wearing barefoot shoes, I wondered whether I may develop the strength in my feet they had been designed for.

Such trends show no sign of slowing down as every new pair of running shoes seems to edge closer to the sort of cushioned kaleidoscopic stilts one would expect to see in an extra-terrestrial circus. Though the increasingly goofy cushioned heels of our shoes provide plenty of comfort, reaching an almost unnatural numbness, it is no doubt weakening our feet with some painful consequences. Now even with just a surface-level understanding, I had still been convinced, but was now facing the dilemma of where to buy such a shoe…

Searching for the right brand that was based in London led me to a podcast with Galahad Clark, the CEO of the UK-based barefoot shoe company called Vivobarefoot, and with a flagship store in Covent garden. 

Listening to Galahad speak about the shoes’ benefits was fascinating, but what struck me was the importance he placed on having a “net positive impact both up and down the supply chain” as well as “up and down the body.” Their website contains a list of standards and codes that are the backbone of their regenerative mission; ranging from their use of up-cycled raw materials to a detailed depiction of their value chain.

Not only had Galahad convinced me of both his product and company model, but he had also got me thinking about an idea that I had come across in Giles Hutchin’s and Laura Storm’s book ‘Regenerative Leadership’. Within it, they distinguished between what they called outer and inner versions of sustainability. The former refers to the technology, policy, or operational mechanisms that we externally lead society to a far greener future; whereas the latter involves looking inward to focus on our well-being, and health, along with fostering meaning and creativity within the individual. Galahad’s goal is to have “minimum impact on the environment and body”, and in doing so, has produced a holistic model for combining both outer and inner regeneration.

Though the Vivoebarefoot approach may not be suitable for everyone, it can serve as motivation for companies, who may be exclusively focused on only one side of this coin, to look at whether integrating outer and inner sustainability within their model may get them closer to their goals, as well as benefit from the relation between these two sides.