Birkenstocks is the new hip

Birkenstocks are back as the fashionista’s comfort sandal. Once reserved for the comfort shoe brigade they now can be seen on the feet of the celebrated famous, from the Olsen twins to Heidi Klum. According to people who know these things it was last year’s Céline fashion show in Paris which brought the mouldy old comfort sandal back to its bling vogue. At first, the orthopaedic sandals drew jeers, then acceptance and finally adulation. To meet a new level of international demand, Birkenstock will double its annual production from 10 million pairs to 20 million over the next five years. Earlier this year, a new design team was assembled by the brand; its spring 2015 line will include, for the first time, Birks with heels and wedges. The company also plans to push the classic single-strap Madrid model as the must-have sandal next season in the hopes of avoiding this season’s success, the double-strap white Arizona Birkenstocks.

Vibram Five Fingers: Unconditional full-refund offer

Vibram Five Fingers running shoes have had better days but after the recent court settlement , in which Vibram set aside $3.75 million to compensate people who felt they'd been misled about health benefits of the shoe, the company are keen to win back customers. For the rest of this year (2014) , all shoe sales via the Vibram web site will come with an unconditional full-refund offer and if for any reason the comsumer turns out not to like running in them the company will take the shoe back and return a full refund. According to the company all returned shoes will be cleaned and donated to and donate them to organizations that might use them.

Samaritan's Feet:Stanford University pledges help the Caribbean island nation of Dominica

Stanford University has announced it will provide shoes to the children of the Caribbean island nation of Dominica. This is the first time any entity has partnered with Samaritan's Feet to provide shoes and other support for an entire nation. The initial project in the partnership was to raise $100,000 to purchase up to 6,000 pairs of shoes for children in Dominica. The shoes will be distributed in conjunction with the 10th Caribbean Baptist Fellowship Youth Festival this week. In addition to the shoe project it is anticpated several academic departments and student groups will participate in other aspects of the Samaritan's Feet partnership. Samford's young alumni advisory board also will be supporting the partnership with fundraising. Samaritan's Feet is a non-profit founded in 2003 and based in Charlotte, N.C., with global offices in Brazil, Nigeria, Peru and South Africa.

Persons interested in the Shoe for a Nation project, including financial contributions, should contact Coyne at ccoyne@samford.edu. Contributions made to the partnership through Samford are 100 percent tax deductible. Gifts should be designated for Samford Shoes for a Nation.

Toes

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On Running Shoes

On is a Swiss shoe company that have developed the CloudTec® system in an attempt to potentially conserving energy whilst running. The sole design incorporates deformable loops. A comparative study to compare On running shoes with barefoot running and conventional running shoes was undertaken. Thirty-seven trained male participants were studied while running at submaximal speeds wearing their conventional running shoe, wearing the On running shoe and while barefoot. Additional biomechanical and physiological values were investigated to determine whether the On running shoe induced any changes in these parameters compared with conventional running shoes. The small study revealed the On exhibited similar ground reaction forces as conventional shoes, and these were different from the forces experienced while running barefoot. No difference was observed in running economy between the On and a conventional shoe model. However, a slightly lower heart rate (HR) (≈1.3%) and blood lactate concentration (≈5.5%) were observed during submaximal running with the On running shoe compared with a conventional running shoe, as well as a greater lateral deviation of the centre of pressure mid-stance. The ramifications of the reduced HR and blood lactate concentration for competitive performance are unknown.

Reference
Knoepfli-Lenzina C., Waecha JC, Gülayb T, Schellenbergb F and Lorenzettib S. (2014) The influence of a new sole geometry while running Journal of Sports Sciences; Published online: 1-9 DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2014.915421.

Running Research Junkie : Great resource

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