Adidas creates first barefoot shoe
German sportswear brand adidas has unveiled its first “barefoot” training shoe, called the Apidure. The trainer is designed to mimic the experience of exercising barefoot while providing the protection, traction and durability of a shoe.
Athletic companies including Merrell, Fila, Saucony, Asics and New Balance are all offering their own barefoot or minimalist shoes. The growing barefoot footwear trend has been fuelled by the barefoot running culture, which has long had proponents, but caught on more widely in 2009 after Christopher McDougall’s book “Born to Run” explored the history and benefits of it.
“People who believe barefoot is the way to go...are very emphatic about it,” said Matt Powell, an analyst with industry research organization SportsOneSource Group. “They want to spread the message. It sounds religious but some of them are evangelical about it."
While barefoot shoes make up a small fraction of the $22 billion US athletic shoe industry, it is one of the fast-growing categories. Sales have more than doubled in the past year to roughly $750 million, according to SportsOneSource.
