Update 05 Jan 2012:
Hey folks! Short story--shoes will be shipping to funders and hitting stores in Spring 2012. PaleoBrands perks will be fulfilled at the same time.
Long story--due to positive reception, we decided to move ahead, closing the gap w/ loans from friends. There’s a few final touches I want to make (e.g. simulated welt on outsole
http://instagr.am/p/cxr6C/), then we’ll begin production. Sorry for the slowness, lots to do and still working day job, but I’ve given notice so I can focus on this.
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the Primal Professional...
- is a shoe with dressy looks and barefoot comfort.
- has no heel, no arch, no thick sole, no narrow tip. It just looks like it does.
- is completely made in the USA, ethically and sustainably.
- is assembled by a shoemaker known for quality and durability.
- is completely risk-free. Request a full refund at any time before we ship. If you're not fully satisfied, we have a 30-day, 105% money-back guarantee.
Other Ways You Can Help
What We Need
Up to now, I�ve been able to self-fund the design, development, and production of our first size prototype. Each additional size, however, requires its own set of equipment, and the startup costs for footwear are quite significant. Here is the breakdown for 10 sizes:
What You Get
We joined up with
Robb Wolf and his team at
Paleo Brands, and are proud to offer their premium grass-fed jerky and gourmet meals to our backers at the $20, $60, and $100 contribution levels. Not only will you be helping move the Primal Professional from development into full production, you will also be supporting and enjoying healthy, responsible food.
It is an honor to work with Robb. Whether he's speaking with health professionals, writing a New York Times Best Selling
book, answering questions on his weekly
podcast, Robb's passion to transform lives and create a better world inspires us everyday to do the same.
Our Story
My name is Mountain, and like you, I enjoy walking, running, lifting, playing, and doing pretty much everything barefoot. It all started in 2009. From the 4-Hour Workweek blog and the book Born to Run, I discovered barefoot running. It made sense. It felt right. 6 months later, I completed the LA Marathon, bare soles to the road for 26 miles.
From then, there was no turning back. But I still had to spend five days a week in a business environment. What�s a modern caveman to do? On a casual Friday, I wore my FiveFingers and my colleagues freaked out. This is not a good thing for an accountant. So I put up with my regular work shoe until one day. I came home, so frustrated with the thick heels that I tried to trim them down with a hand saw. It didn�t work as I imagined, and the shoes were just ruined.
It was in this moment, this moment of failure, that inspiration struck. We need a shoe that has the barefoot feel we love, with the classic look people expect. A shoe for Primal Professionals. Whether you work an office, a restaurant, a hospital, or a beat, the Primal Professional, with its slip-resistant sole, is for professionals from all walks of life.
Features
I set out to create a shoe that looks indistinguishable from the most conservative Oxford. A shoe you could wear through a job interview and into a black tie affair. Without compromising barefoot comfort. How is this possible? We came up with a couple tricks of the eye that you�ll love.
The best way to illustrate the key features of the Primal Professional is to compare them against a Traditional shoe, and earlier attempts at a barefoot dress shoe. A Traditional shoe has a heel lift, arch support, and a thick sole. We hate these things, but they�re what people expect visually of dress shoes. Earlier attempts take a dressy upper and attach it to a flat sole, so there�s no heel lift, no arch support, and a thin sole, but dressy looks are lost. Through creative design, our patent-pending Time CapSole allows the best of both worlds. While it may look like there is a heel lift and arch support, those structures are actually hollow, and allow the foot to sit flat inside for a real barefoot feel.
Another key feature of the Primal Professional is the innovative shape. A Traditional shoe has a dressy, narrow tip, but it severely constricts the toes. An earlier attempt shoe might try a wider tip, but that looks too casual. In developing our shoe, we identified where the toes are within the toebox, allowed ample space for them up to that point, then dramatically tapered everything thereafter into a dressy tip. Tricks of the eye. Like a hunter-gatherer in camouflage.
Pride
As a minimalist, the last thing I want is another cheap consumable made from exploited workers and environmental pollution. Without compromise, this shoe had to be made ethically and sustainably. By searching locally for vendors, nearly every part of our product is proudly made in the USA, with only the lasts made next door in Mexico. The leather in our shoes, tanned in Wisconsin, comes from Texas steers. Our unique outsoles are made in Missouri, as are the molds that make those outsoles. Our design was done by an artist in California.
Sustainability isn�t just about manufacturing, but also how long that product lasts. To keep the Primal Professional on your feet, and out of a landfill, we had to ensure the very best build quality. The final product is being assembled by Weinbrenner, an employee-owned company in Wisconsin whose high caliber shoes have carried America�s heroes for 120 years, including the brave firemen on 9/11. We are proud to say the Primal Professional is made in the USA, by a shoemaker that produces some of the finest, most durable footwear in the world.
