Our co-founder, Lena Phoenix, likes to say, “There is NO reason to start another shoe company… unless your products change people’s lives.”

And if you read the reviews of our shoes and sandals, you’ll hear a lot of people saying just that, even if what was life-changing for them is as simple as finding shoes that are COMFORTABLE.

Frankly, it’s the emails, phone calls, reviews, and letters (yes, actual letters delivered by a mail person) where people share how much Xero Shoes has impacted their lives that keep us going.

We’re creating a MOVEMENT movement: Helping people experience the comfort, fun, and benefits of Natural Movement. And making natural movement the obvious, healthy, choice… the way natural food is currently.

One of our goals is to be respectful stewards of our environment and the planet.

With footwear, especially, performance footwear, there are some limitations to what we can do while still providing the durability, usability, and function our customers want, at a price they can afford.

We’re careful not to jump into “sustainable” or “environmentally beneficial” products or methods without looking at the bigger picture. For example, creating fleece from recycled plastic bottles sounds like a great thing… until it was discovered that fleece sheds synthetic microfibers — tiny bits of plastic that marine scientists say could be jeopardizing our oceans.

We think of our measured, long-term vision approach as being “Environmentally Intelligent.”

Some of the ways we do this include:

• Our minimalist designs use fewer materials than traditional shoes (especially performance products)
• Our simpler designs, without midsole layers, require less energy to manufacture
• Our soles last longer — where most performance shoe companies recommend replacing their products every 3-500 miles, our soles have a 5000 mile warranty.
• Whenever possible, we use renewable materials, like hemp

We look forward to more and better ways we can “tread lightly” as we help you Live Life Feet First!

Let me ask you a question: Do your feet feel better at the end of the day than they did at the beginning?

If not, it’s because your shoes aren’t letting your feet do what’s NATURAL.

One-quarter of the bones and joints in your entire body are in your feet. You have more nerve endings in your soles than anywhere but your fingertips and lips.

This means your feet are meant to bend, move, flex, and feel the world.

Comfort and performance come from letting your feet do what they’re meant to do, naturally.

Xero Shoes let them do that with what we call “3 Pillars of Natural”:

• Natural FIT — wide toe boxes let your toes spread and relax. A non-elevated (zero-drop) heel for proper posture.
• Natural MOTION — super flexible to let your feet bend and move naturally. Low-to-the-ground for balance and agility.
• Natural FEEL — the patented FeelTrue® soles give you the just-right protection while still giving the ground feedback your brain needs for efficient, natural movement.

Plus they’re affordable and durable.

The short answer is: Start slowly. Give yourself time to get used to using your muscles naturally, to relaxing, and to your gait changes.

For running, you might start with a VERY short run… like 30 seconds! If that’s not fun, there are a number of hints on our site that will help you. When a short run feels easy and fun, add 10 more seconds to your next run. Then “lather, rinse, repeat.”

Listen to your body. Use fun as your guide.

There are optimal ways to walk, just like there are optimal ways to throw a baseball, or do a ballet split leap.

That doesn’t mean there’s only one way you walk under all circumstances. Your gait will change if you’re walking uphill or downhill, accelerating or decelerating, walking fast or walking slow, or walking on different surfaces.

But there are fundamental principles that can make your walking more efficient, enjoyable, and simply better for your body.

If you want to learn the natural way to walk, follow these steps for learning how to walk barefoot properly (and more enjoyably!):

Get Barefoot

Start by taking off those shoes, or get as close as you can to having bare feet. Incredibly, even socks can get in the way of the feedback you need to learn proper walking form. 

You want to be able to fully articulate your foot and let your nerves feel the ground. 

If you have to wear shoes, avoid shoes that get in the way of natural movement, namely, cushioned shoes, shoes with elevated heels, shoes that squeeze your toes together, and shoes that are not super flexible (e.g. you can’t roll them into a ball).

Instead, choose barefoot-inspired, minimalist  shoes that are low to the ground, flexible and with a non-elevated “zero-drop” heel and a wider, foot-shaped toe box, like Xero Shoes. 

Walk with your glutes, not your hip flexors

Your glutes and hamstrings are among the largest muscle groups in your body. They’re referred to as “prime movers.” But most people don’t use their prime movers.

Instead, when most people walk, they swing their free leg out in front of them by using their hip flexor muscles, and push off with the toes of the standing leg so they can then pivot over the front leg.

Try this technique instead:

1. Lift your left foot about an inch off the ground. Through the next 4 steps, you want to leave that leg alone. Don’t swing it forward. Let it hang there, as much as possible, doing nothing.
2. Now, imagine the motion of a roller skater or ice skater. When you skate, you push yourself forward by driving your standing leg backwards. When you skate, you drive your heel backwards, keeping it on the ground as long as possible. Doing this  engages your glutes and hamstrings. That’s why skaters have great butts 😉
3. Next, do that skating move, driving your right heel backward. Remember, don’t swing your left leg forward.
4. When you push your right heel back enough, and don’t use your left leg, at some point – and you won’t have to think about it – your left foot will plant itself on the ground so that you don’t fall on your face.
5. Look at where your left foot is in relation to your body. If you’ve done this correctly, you’ll see that it’s basically underneath you, supporting you, as your right leg is dangling in the air, pretty much where your left leg was in step 1…
6. Now that your weight has shifted to your left leg and your right leg can hang there, with your foot about an inch off the ground, simply repeat the steps above but with your left leg’s heel pushing back in a “skating” motion, and use your right leg just to catch you and keep you from falling.

At first when you do this, you’ll be walking a bit like a robotic Frankenstein… sort of lunge-catch-stop-lunge-catch-stop.

Keep doing this until you get the feeling of using your glutes as you drive your heel back, relaxing the “swinging leg” and only using it to catch you at the last moment, landing with your foot under your body.

Then, smooth it out like this:

1. Don’t push your heel back quite so far (but still use your glutes)
2. When your front foot lands, immediately start driving that heel back
3. See how much you can relax

As you smooth it out, you may notice that as you walk it can feel like you’re slightly falling forward.

This is fine.

In fact, it’s probably not true.

It’s probably that you were previously walking with your hips slightly behind your feet and, possibly, with your shoulders behind your hips (if someone were looking at you from the side, that is).

When you walk properly, it can feel odd simply because it’s not what you’re used to.

That “slightly falling” feeling means you’re using less energy. And it usually also means that your feet are under your hips and your hips are under your shoulders.

As you experiment this, you’ll probably find other parts of your body relaxing and doing less.

While it’s possible to learn optimal walking form in shoes, it’s faster and easier to be in your bare feet to discover the best way to walk. That’s because:

1. Most “normal” shoes get in the way of proper walking form. They squeeze your toes together, alter your posture with elevated heels, and are stiff enough to restrict your bones and joints from moving naturally. (more about footwear in a moment). 
2. When you’re barefoot, you get feedback from the ground which can help you find a natural, comfortable way to walk. In short: walking with proper form feels good, and improper form feels uncomfortable. 
3. Finally, walking barefoot can be fun. Especially if you have the courage to explore going barefoot in places where you’ve never felt the surface you’re walking on.

One other advantage: By walking barefoot, you become your own best teacher about proper walking form. Listening to your body will help you discover your own secrets for walking efficiently, enjoyably, and easily.

Yes, all of our shoes and sandals are zero-drop.

That means the heel isn’t higher than the ball of the foot, for proper posture.

Xero Shoes is about promoting the benefits (and comfort and FUN) of natural movement, first and foremost. Whenever we can, though, we make vegan-friendly products.

Sometimes we aren’t able to due to the materials needed to construct a shoe that meets the requirements of jobs that require, say, a leather shoe.

At this time, the only shoe available in the UK that is not vegan-friendly is the Glenn. Other non-vegan Xero Shoes styles are Alston, Melbourne, leather Hana, leather Phoenix, which are made of leather, as well as the original Mika, which contains a small amount of wool on the collar. We previously had the Coalton (leather) and Pacifica (wool), though we no longer carry those.

Every product’s page gives a recommendation for selecting the correct size.

Also, see our size guidelines here.

Xero Shoes are designed to let your feet do what’s natural — bend, flex, move and feel the world.

Research shows that “supporting” your arch can make your foot weaker in as little as a few weeks, while even just walking in a minimalist shoe can improve foot muscle strength.

We want to let your feet be feet… and support you for life.

Since our soles are flat, with no built-in arch support, they’re probably the best shoe to use if you decide to add an insole.

So you know, though, our shoes are intentionally designed to let your feet bend, flex, and move naturally. Research shows that “supporting” your arch or immobilizing your foot with an orthotic can make your foot weaker in as little as a few weeks, while even just walking in a minimalist shoe can improve foot muscle strength.

We’ve heard from a number of customers who wear CorrectToes with their Xero Shoes.

Most of them are wearing the product with our sandals, but we know of some who wear CorrectToes with our closed-toe shoes also. It will depend, in part, on your foot’s width.

The more demand we have for particular shoes or colours, the more we’re able to offer.

Email us with your suggestions if you’d like to see a certain colour or style.

Email us if you have a suggestion or request for a specific shoe, colour, or size. The more demand we have, the greater our ability to make more shoes (this includes making men’s versions of our women’s shoes and visa versa).

The women’s styles will fit more narrowly than the men’s. If you are a man with narrow feet, then you may prefer the “women’s” sizes. If you are a woman with a wider foot, then you may want to try the “men’s” styles.

The difference in length between men’s and women’s closed-toe shoes is 1 size.

We find that temperature ratings aren’t very accurate. They vary greatly depending on environmental factors, like humidity and typical weather (a Tennessee snowstorm is quite different from one in Colorado!)

Below is an overview that might help:

Sandals
We hope you don’t have to ask, but in case you do…our sandals will not keep your feet warm.  Add a pair of socks and you can make it through colder weather. Find some waterproof, insulated socks and you can be one of those people who wears socks all year-’round. Check out what our CEO, Steven Sashen, has done in a Colorado winter.

Closed Toe Shoes
Most of our closed-toe shoes are not designed to keep your feet warm. They’ll be just as warm as a traditional closed-toe shoe.

Water Resistant Boots and Shoes

The following boots are water resistant, not waterproof. They’ll repel water to a certain degree and keep your feet warm, but they aren’t “trudge through a slushy puddle in the middle of winter” level weatherproof.

If you love the style of one of our water-resistant shoes, you can enhance its ability to repel water by adding a waterproof coating, like a Scotch Guard spray or beeswax.

Hana

Mika

Denver

Waterproof Boots

Currently, the Xcursion Fusion hiking boots and Alpine snow boots are our only fully-waterproof options. These shoes are fully waterproof and will keep your feet dry in wet-weather conditions. Bring it on, monsoon!

We design all of our shoes in Colorado. Xero Shoes are responsibly, ethically, and fairly manufactured in China.

While we would love to manufacture in America, it is literally not possible at this time, in the same way, it’s not possible to domestically manufacture the device you’re using to read this answer.

Performance footwear manufacturing moved to Asia in the 70s and shows no likelihood of moving back. Note that some companies that claim “made in America” are still sourcing their materials from overseas (or the US companies from which they buy their materials are doing so).

We visit and work with our factories multiple times per year.  We also have an on-the-ground manufacturing agent who oversees the factories when we’re not there to ensure that conditions are good, workers are treated fairly, and the shoes are made in compliance with all local laws and regulations. The factories we use to treat and pay their workers exceptionally well.

Companies much larger than ours use these same factories and have spent millions of dollars on audits to assure themselves and their wholesale partners about the quality and conditions.

While our shoes are low to the ground for balance and agility, and flexible enough to let your feet bend and move naturally, our shoes are not electrically conductive.

We have heard from some customers who made their Xero Shoes conductive by putting a rivet or grommet through the soles but we do not have any personal experience with this.

Please keep in mind that any alterations to the shoes would not be covered under warranty.

While we stand behind the quality of our products, we also know the reality: nothing is perfect and nothing goes 100% according to plan. That’s why we have a 1 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty.

There are more details about our warranty here.

Likewise, please contact us on hello@xeroshoes.co.uk so we can evaluate your situation and give you the correct remedy options. Please confirm the order number and some pictures of the issue to help our team get started.

The simplest answer is: Do they feel right?

Sizing is largely about personal preference. You could take 3 people with identical feet, put them in the same shoe, and they’d have 3 different opinions about how the shoe fits.

Some people think you need a lot of room in front of your toes. This is true for shoes with thick midsoles, but not with Xero Shoes (when thicker shoes bend, the “inside” shortens faster than the outside… like what happens when you bend a phone book).

Some people like their toes to lightly touch the front of the shoe because it gives them additional feedback.

We recommend wearing the shoes indoors for a bit to see how they feel (remember, if you need to return or exchange, the product must be in “new and unworn” condition).

If you’re a woman with a wider foot, you may be more comfortable in a “men’s” style. And if you’re a man with a narrower foot, you may like a “women’s” style better.

If you have other questions about fit, feel free to reach out so we can help!

There’s a simple way to shorten the straps on the Cloud or Genesis which you can see here

If you are looking to exchange your shoes for another size, colour, or style, or return them for a refund, you can find step-by-step instructions through the link here

If your order arrives faulty or damaged please reach out to our team on hello@xeroshoes.co.uk, with your order number and some pictures so we can get resolved for you.