21 December 2017

A WINTER SOLSTICE REPORT FROM GALAHAD CLARK

The Team behind the scenes : London VIVO HQ

REFLECTING ON 2017

2017 has been the best year in VIVOBAREFOOT’s short (and chequered) history… and long may that continue! As we approach the darkest days of the year we are guided by the light of our core beliefs…

Herewith, 3 initiatives linked to Vivo Values:

Think On Your Feet (honest and transparent feed-back loops – like feet to brain). Watch Shoespiracy: The Film, set to release in 2018. Find out more > here.

Move More (challenge and inspire yourselves…). Sign up for an ÖTILLÖ Swimrun event > here.

Innovate Sustainably (be enterprising in making things better and the way we make things better…) Help us protect the corals with big-wave-surfer and activist Torsten Durken. Find out more > here.

THINK ON YOUR FEET (AND SUPPORT SHOESPIRACY)

We believe we should all #LIVEBAREFOOT with minimal padding in our lives. There’s a vital sensory loop between feet and brains and the cushioned shoe industry have soled us a lie for too long. We are crowdsourcing the film that those airsoles don’t want to get made.

A famous kids’ shoe designer who works for the leading shoe brands in the UK, Germany, Italy and Benelux said to me at an industry event (while I was slightly berating her for not putting healthy feet at the heart of kids’ shoe design)...

“But have you not seen how wide someone’s foot is that has never worn shoes?”

“Yesss?”

“Well we deliberately design children’s shoes not to let their feet become like that so they can fit into smart leather shoes when they are older…”

Wow. That’s what we are up against and it’s a feet fight worth fighting…

As the Harvard Professor, Irene Davies, commented in the Freakonomics Podcast “These shoes are killing me”, we are working hard to bring back feet. Let's get together and herald in the decade of the foot!

MOVE MORE (AND JOIN A SWIMRUN IN 2018)

Regular natural movement is the best anti-ageing process known to humans. We are continually working to improve every shoe we make.

The Tracker is the fastest, lightest hiking boot in the world, the Primus Trek, an amazing all-round approach shoe and combined with the Ultra and Primus Lux there’s no excuse not to visit the most beautiful places and people in the world without happy feet!

One of our key initiatives at Vivo (and biggest shoe making challenges) is being the global sponsor of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun (The original world series.). We are also sponsoring a bunch of other Swimrun events in Spain, France, Australia and the USA as this sport becomes the fastest growing outdoor sport in the world.

In 2017, we developed the official ÖTILLÖ Swimrun shoe. Fast, light, sticky, drainable, swimmable, quick drying, grippy, easy on & off and not letting any grime in is a pretty good shoe challenge! One we truly embraced… and the Primus Swimrun mark II will launch in 2018, tried and tested by the toughest Swimrun athletes the World has to offer.

Running and wild swimming is an awe-inspiring way to move through nature, whether it’s island to island, along a coast, lake to lake or even in the bay of a city. Join us on one of the Swimrun races we are sponsoring next year by signing up > here.

INNOVATE SUSTINABLY (AND HELP PROTECT OUR OCEANS)

We are on a quest to make the perfect shoe… perfect for feet (and for the planet). In 2017 we were proud to launch a host of awesome new shoes and innovations.

We released the Ultra Bloom - made using Bloom Foam, a new eco-friendly material made from harvesting algae. A double positive: Bloom Foam is an alternative to petro-based materials and helps clean up waterways under threat from toxic algal blooms.

As part of bringing more awareness to the oceans, we are proud to announce our partnership with The Inertia and Torsten Durken who is a big wave surfer by day and a medic-in-training / saver-of-corals by night, on a mission to protect the World’s Oceans. Check out his film and work he is doing to raise money for coral saving organisations.