How’s your feet? Feeling the pinch? Numb toes, sore heels? Lowenna and Daniel Adams have the perfect answer after launching BarefootBrit Shop which gives traditional, ill-fitting shoes the boot
Why do we put shoes on our feet for years, decades even, without ever thinking if they are shaped like the foot inside? When a pair pinches, the toes go numb or the heel rubs, the usual answer is to try another size, another brand, or use a softer insole. It hardly ever occurs to anyone to ask a simpler question. What if the shape of the shoe, and not the foot, is what needs a second look?”
A couple from Shustoke, on the Warwickshire side of the Birmingham/Staffordshire border, have spent years asking exactly that question, and it has taken them somewhere they never expected – to a family business, a place in the UK’s barefoot movement, a first step into the footwear trade, and even an appearance in a documentary film.
SOLE MATES
Lowenna and Daniel Adams are the husband and wife team who stepped up and launched BarefootBrit Shop in January this year. We spoke to the sole-mates immediately after a hugely successful weekend at the Barefoot Shoe and Foot Health Expo held at Cranmore Park, Solihull, which saw visitors queueing up to try and buy footwear by dozens of leading barefoot brands. “Barefoot shoes have previously been seen as a bit of niche market,” said Daniel. “But demand is really growing fast and the potential is simply huge, with some of the best-known shoe brands turning their attention increasingly to producing barefoot products.”
Lowenna, who went to school in Coleshill, says she did not set out to build a barefoot shoe business. “I set out to raise four children, and to raise them with one particular family rule: ‘that’s how it’s always been done!’ But that is a reason to look closer, not a reason to stop asking. And general footwear simply turned out to be one of the things we couldn’t stop questioning.”
EXPANDING FAST
Since launch, BarefootBrit Shop has rapidly expanded and now stocks 43 brands and 255 products. The couple admit it has been a steep learning curve, but Lowenna says it has given her a sense that the questions her family had always been asking were being asked by other people across the UK too.
If you aren’t sure what makes barefoot shoes stand out from the crowd, Lowenna and Daniel have a simple two-point guide. First, they are shaped like the human foot – so no pointy toes or narrow, tight fitting. Second, they are flat with no heel rise – which keeps your foot in its natural position and actually strengthens the muscles. Unlike conventional footwear, barefoot shoes are designed to let your feet move as naturally as possible, allowing them the freedom to bend, flex and spread out as nature intended.
“Once I understood that simple concept suddenly, the shape of conventional shoes looked far stranger to me than the barefoot shoes I’d originally dismissed as odd,” said Lowenna. “The first thing I noticed is actually quite difficult to describe, but the closest comparison I can think of is that it felt as though I wasn’t really wearing shoes at all. That was a real lightbulb moment for me.”
STYLISH DESIGNS
Finding the right quality of shoes, styles and suppliers for their business has involved the couple in some hard graft. Daniel has spent a lot of time forming and nurturing close relationships with countries around the world who can supply the shoes the couple want to sell. And the days when Lowenna thought barefoot designs were odd are long gone, thanks to latest stylish designs and quality materials.
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak,” said Lowenna, “and I’ve spent years working with e-commerce websites, so combining those skills with something I genuinely believe in felt like the perfect fit. As awareness of barefoot footwear has grown across the UK, so has the demand for stylish, comfortable and genuinely foot-friendly shoes. Bringing more fantastic barefoot brands to British customers felt like the obvious next step, and it’s something I’m incredibly proud to be part of with Daniel today.” An unexpected and exciting turn for the couple arrived in September when Daniel was one of 18 featured people in Stupid Shoes, a streaming documentary which explored changing attitudes to footwear.
While the couple are happy with the way the business is progressing they are keen to lift it to the next level. They will be at high-profile fashion fairs next spring and autumn at the NEC, and in an ideal world they’d love to find an investor to help them grow – and bring their great footwear to more people. And they’d also love to get BarefootBrit Shop into major high street retailers. “While that’s not easy to achieve, it’s inevitable that we’ll crack it,” said a confident Lowenna.