The Xero Blog

“Barefoot Sandal” Start-up Xero Shoes Brings On Former Crocs Exec and Avia Co-founderBoulder, CO, October 2, 2012 – Dennis Driscoll, a 35-year footwear industry veteran who co-founded Avia Footwear and most recently worked as Global Design Director for Crocs, has joined Boulder-based barefoot running shoe start-up, Feel The World, Inc., the makers of Xero Shoes • Original Barefootware.Driscoll's roll at the bestselling "barefoot sandal" manufacturer is Chief Development Officer. Asked what attracted him to the product, he answers, "Xero Shoes are genuine, legitimate. We don't have to create ways to differentiate our product, because it is actually different."Regarding the company, and its co-founders, Steven Sashen and wife Lena Phoenix, Driscoll adds, "They are a smart team who've already proven themselves and their business. I like that my experience with all aspects of the footwear business can have a big impact here."Sashen and Phoenix reciprocate the admiration. "It’s highly unusual for someone of Dennis’s skills and caliber to work for a company at our stage. We're thrilled to have Dennis help take our product, and our company, to the levels we know they can attain."Dennis Driscoll started in the footwear business in 1978 with Osaga Athletic Footwear as the Director of Product Development. In 1981 he co-founded Avia Athletic Footwear as the VP of Product. Ten years later Dennis joined Wilson Sporting Goods as the Global Business Unit Director of Footwear. After a 7-year stint at Converse in senior product roles, Driscoll took a position at Doc Martens Footwear and moved to London as the Global Director of Product. In 2010, he went to work for Crocs as Global Design Director where he had a fourteen member design team in the US office and design centers in Padova, Italy and Tokyo, JapanABOUT:Feel The World, Inc. of Boulder, CO, manufactures Xero Shoes®,  a high-tech upgrade on the traditional huaraches running sandal of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. Durable, stylish and affordable — Xero Shoes supply the fun and benefits of being barefoot, but with a layer of protection.  Feel The World, Inc. launched in December 2009. To date, over 25,000 customers, ages 1 to 91, in more than 73 countries wear Xero Shoes for walking, hiking, yoga and gym-going, Crossfit, kayaking, jogging, and even running hundred-mile ultra marathons.

Houston, we have color! I am extremely happy and proud to announce that you can now get Xero Shoes in 4 WAY COOL colors. And to celebrate, you can also save 20% if you order by October 2nd! In addition to our Coal Black, you can now get Mocha Earth, Electric Mint, Boulder Sky, and Hot Salmon. Combine those with our different lace colors... Well, here are a few combinations that you'll see around our office: Lena in her Mocha Earth with matching brown laces and a bunch of Brass Beads. Our office ultra-runner (and customer service manager), Bill, in Electric Mint with Purple laces (he puts 80-100 miles a week on these!) Steven, taking inspiration from an 8 year old customer who was the first one to wear non-matching laces, in Boulder Sky with White laces and a Hand Pendant (on the left) and Hot Salmon with Red laces (right). These new colors come in both Connect 4mm and Contact 6mm styles. And you can get them as kits or custom-made. Click here to order your Xero Shoes Colored Barefoot Sandals

You know the saying "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"?Well, it's true for shoe companies, too. When all you have is padding and motion-control, everything looks like it pronates and lands too hard!Check out this video about the "secret" Adidas development center. Especially watch at the 2:10 mark where the "best people in the world" analyze Ben's sprinting gait and conclude:a) That he pronates and heel-strikes (NOTE: He over pronates BECAUSE he heel-strikes since, when you land on your heel, the ankle muscles can't can hold the foot/ankle/lower leg in place).b) The solution: Making a shoe with padding and motion control!Uh...First of all, if you heel strike when you sprint, you are not sprinting! Sprinters do not heel strike. And when you land on your forefoot or midfoot, the entire musculature of the lower leg, ankle, and foot, can be "pre-loaded" and engage when you land.The cure for Ben is to STOP HEEL STRIKING, not get a shoe that lets him continue to run incorrectly. Duh.My next comment falls into the "maybe it's just me" category: Notice how large, spacious and expensive this place is. Ben mentions that Adidas does over a BILLION euros in sales.Look, I'm the last guy to deny any company the right to make money, and I'd love to have a billion dollar company.But am I the only one who sees a direct connection between a massive, pricey research lab and shoes that cost $150-200, and "hi-tech" shirts that cost $100+. This is like a thought I had at the Outdoor Retailer trade show, where some of the bigger companies have booths that easily cost over $1,000,000, "Oh, now I know why they charge so much for their products! They need to support the booth."Honestly, I find it unlikely that the "amazing" research they're doing actually pays for itself. I think it makes them feel good about themselves, and makes naive reporters think, "Oh, wow, they're doing something really special here."I don't doubt for a second that they could drop the price of their shoes to something more reasonable, not waste money on "research" that's iffy at best, and still make the same profit.Again, maybe that's just me.The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.