Feet2 Oy, a Helsinki-based company claims that its running shoes follow the anatomy of the foot as closely as possible. Positioned as being suitable for any runner, Feet shoes combine the ‘natural movement ideology of barefoot running and the comfort of a shoe.’
The company adds that it believes in the natural power of the feet with a brand motto ‘Shoes don’t run, feet do’.
“Our passion and interest is the human body,” said Teuvo Niskanen, the man behind new Finnish running shoe brand Feet. “How the foot works is brilliant and its built-in impact reducing mechanism cannot be replaced by any shoe or material.
“We aim to keep the running stride as natural as possible with a shoe, so it mimics the movement of bare feet. Our body is so wise that it naturally fixes movement faults. Even if there can be some structural differences, how the feet function is the same for everybody. It doesn’t need any extra cushioning or support.”
Feet shoes feature a sole construction that minimises the impact of ground reaction force and spreads this to the strongest part of the midfoot to reduce peak forces. The shoe minimizes the runner’s contact time with the ground and provides a natural rolling effect to the forefoot with natural movement over the runners centre of mass.
Feet adds that the midfoot strike is spread to the strongest area of the foot which is able to take the highest loading as the body weight passes over it. The sole structure supports running movement up to the big toe and enables effective forward movement into the foot’s pushing phase.
‘The sole structure helps the runner to convert the kinetic energy into a more efficient forward movement.’
The Finnish company claims that many running shoes influence, or even change, the natural sequence of movement, whereas Feet’s sole design supports it.
“In cushioned and strongly supported shoes, the small muscles in the feet don’t work efficiently,” continued Teuvo Niskanen. “We don’t use any separate impact softening so the sensory stimulus in the sole happens, which activates all the muscles in our feet.
“A shoe is meant to help a runner move as economically and efficiently as possible.”
As a physiotherapist Niskanen specialises in the lower body and earned his shoe design credentials at Finnish sporting goods company Karhu. Together with mentor Matti Salminen, Teuvo Niskanen helped create a line of lightweight running shoes – the Karhu M-Series.
Launched in the early 2000s, the M-Series earned popularity in international running circles, but its manufacturing was discontinued when Karhu was sold to foreign investors in 2008. After a few years of breaking the idea down, Niskanen again teamed up with Salminen to ‘design a new kind of running shoe.’
Since its first steps, Feet2 has progressed quickly. While finding a manufacturer for the new shoe construction wasn’t easy, old industry contacts came to the rescue. A factory with the right expertise was found in China; and Feet stepped onto shelves in March 2015.
Niskanen and his business partner Jouko Havas believe their product is unique. “The signs for the next season and our growth figures are really promising,” Jouko Havas said. “It is not an easy market, but persistent work is always rewarded. In a few years we will hopefully be everywhere.”
“The only way to stand out is to do something original,” added Niskanen. “Our background helps as well, as people are interested in what we do. We haven’t received negative feedback from anyone who has bought the shoe. Everybody notices the difference.”
