Xero Shoes


Where did Xero Shoes Come From?

Husband and wife team, Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix launched Feel The World, Inc. on November 23, 2009.

How did that happen?
Well, that’s a good one…

How Xero Shoes Began...




Steven’s Story
I (Steven) got into sprinting at the age of 45 after a 30 year break. And for about two years I was getting injured constantly.

A friend suggested I try barefoot running as a cure for my injuries and he handed me a copy of Born To Run, the best-seller by Christopher McDougall (at that time it wasn’t a very popular book).

I poked around online and found the Boulder Barefoot Running Club and saw they were holding a class that weekend!

It was a good class, taught by Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee (of RunBare.com). On the second class, a week later, I was so fascinated and transfixed by the feelings of having my bare feet on the ground, of experimenting with my gait to see what the effects would be, that I didn’t even notice that we’d run over 5k.

Now that may not sound like a lot to some of you, but I’m a sprinter. I run the 100m. My longest run until then was about a mile… and I didn’t like it.

Now there’s more to this story. See www.xeroshoes.com/blister.

But the short form is that taking off my shoes did lead to the elimination of my injuries. I wanted to be bare footed all the time. But that wasn’t practical — there are places you can’t get into when you have no shoes, and some surfaces that are not amenable to being barefoot.

So, inspired by Born To Run, I decided to make my own huaraches running sandals. I picked up some hi-tech rubber sole material from Vibram (the Cherry that we sell in our Classic kits) and and some eye-popping cords and made myself a pair. When the other runners saw my huaraches, they asked for their own… which turned into a huarache making party on the sidewalk of the University of Colorado (we got a lot of looks, ranging from “What are you doing?” to “Hey! It’s those sandals!”)

After making huaraches for most of the BBRC regulars, Michael Sandler said, “These are great. You should make this your business.”

“Nah,” I (Steven) said.

“Well,” Michael added, “if you had a website, I’d put you in the barefoot running book I’m writing.”

I RUSHED HOME and pitched this idea to Lena.

“Ummm…” she said, “I think that’s a horrible idea. We have a lot of other things going on and this would just be a distraction.”

“Yeah, your’re right,” I said…

And after she went to bed, I built a website ?

Two weeks later, Invisible Shoes (our original name) was born. Within three months, this was our full-time job. Three months later, we had the former lead designers from Nike and Reebok sitting at our kitchen table – I mean conference room table! — designing our new FeelTrue® outsoles and laying out a business plan for us. And things have been flying ever since!

Now we have the pleasure of having sold tens of thousands of pairs of our huaraches sandals to people in over 85 countries, from ages 1-91. And we get emails every day from people who tell us how they’ve had the same kinds of wonderful, and sometimes life-changing experiences that we did.

Lena’s story
Actually, the first pair of huaraches that Steven made were for me (Lena).

I must admit, I wasn’t that interested in them. I sort of patted him on the head with a “Thanks, Honey,” and put them away.

But after hearing how much fun Born To Run was, I picked up the book, devoured it. It’s a great read whether you’re a runner or not (I’m a hiker, not a runner).

Inspired by all the science Chris describes in his book, I put on my sandals and went for a walk.

Well, I was stunned!

It was instantly obvious that I was slamming my feet into the ground, heel-striking like crazy, and walking like a high-powered Chicago attorney… as I was strolling down to the Boulder Farmer’s market.

I wore my Xero Shoes for the next few weeks and could feel my gait changing, my stride getting lighter, and my body relaxing more as I walked.

The next time I put on a pair of my “comfort sandals,” my feet really missed feeling the ground. It felt like I had bricks on my feet, and couldn’t believe I ever thought those shoes were comfortable.

I knew that I wanted to wear my huaraches all the time. But if I were going to do that, I needed to make them look cuter! Luckily, I had made beaded jewelry in the past. So I grabbed some beads and charms and turned my sandals into something really fun, fashion forward, and the envy of my friends ?

Xero Shoes Alpine da donna
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da tempo libero‪»Inverno‪»
Xero Shoes Alpine da donna
179,00 €
(24)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Alpine da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da tempo libero‪»Inverno‪»
Xero Shoes Alpine da uomo
179,00 €
(17)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Pagosa da donna
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Pantofole da interni‪»
Xero Shoes Pagosa da donna
79,00 €
(1)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes HFS II da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes HFS II da uomo
139,00 €
(1)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Prio - men
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes Prio - men
99,90 €
(19)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Mesa Trail II da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes Mesa Trail II da uomo
139,00 €
(7)
Disponibile in magazzino
-21%
Xero Shoes HFS da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes HFS da uomo
129,00 €
Prezzo outlet da 101,33 €
(26)
Disponibile in magazzino
Da -35%
Xero Shoes HFS da donna
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes HFS da donna
129,00 €
Prezzo outlet da 84,00 €
(19)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Z-Trail EV da donna
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Sandali‪»Sandali da corsa barefoot‪»
Xero Shoes Z-Trail EV da donna
89,00 €
(15)
Disponibile in magazzino
-37%
Xero Shoes 360 da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe ginnastica indoor‪»
Xero Shoes 360 da uomo
139,00 €
Prezzo outlet da 86,91 €
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Prio - women
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes Prio - women
99,90 €
(36)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Pagosa da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Pantofole da interni‪»
Xero Shoes Pagosa da uomo
79,00 €
(1)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Aqua Cloud
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Sandali‪»Sandali casual a piedi nudi‪»
Xero Shoes Aqua Cloud
60,00 €
(1)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes HFS II da donna
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes HFS II da donna
139,00 €
(1)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Z-Trail EV da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Sandali‪»Sandali da corsa barefoot‪»
Xero Shoes Z-Trail EV da uomo
89,00 €
(7)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Mesa Trail II da donna
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes Mesa Trail II da donna
139,00 €
(2)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Genesis - men
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Sandali‪»Sandali da corsa barefoot‪»
Xero Shoes Genesis - men
52,00 €
(8)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Aqua Cloud donne
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Sandali‪»Sandali casual a piedi nudi‪»
Xero Shoes Aqua Cloud donne
60,00 €
(1)
Disponibile in magazzino
-29%
Xero Shoes Prio bambini
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per bambini‪»Estate‪»
Xero Shoes Prio bambini
74,90 €
Prezzo outlet da 53,39 €
(4)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Z-Trail bambini
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per bambini‪»Estate‪»Sandali‪»
Xero Shoes Z-Trail bambini
69,90 €
(4)
Disponibile in magazzino
-38%
Xero Shoes Phoenix
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Ballerine‪»
Xero Shoes Phoenix
99,89 €
Prezzo outlet da 62,25 €
(15)
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Holepunch for DIY sandals
 
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Sandali‪»Fai da te‪»
Xero Shoes Holepunch for DIY sandals
9,00 €
Disponibile in magazzino
Xero Shoes Mesa Trail WP da uomo
Prodotti‪»Scarpe barefoot‪»Per adulti‪»Scarpe da corsa‪»
Xero Shoes Mesa Trail WP da uomo
159,00 €
Disponibile in magazzino