Waste Not
VivoBarefoot Offers Glimpse Into a Truly Waste-Free Footwear Future

Global natural health lifestyle brand Vivobarefoot has launched a new scan-to-print, circular bare-foot-wear system that reimagines how footwear is designed and made (and remade).

While the world has changed, our feet haven't. Over-designed and over-produced, conventional shoes are now mass-consumed, damaging to our body, and creating massive waste. In short, shoes are trashing our feet and our planet. They make our feet weak; are made through off-shore, often less-than-ethical supply chains; and 12 billion pairs end up in landfill every year. The world doesn’t need new shoes, but rather a new system — one that starts from the ground up, starting with our feet.

Founded in 2012 by two seventh-generation cobblers, cousins Galahad and Asher Clark — of the Clarks footwear dynasty — Vivobarefoot was created as an antithesis of modern-day, wasteful models of mass shoe production; based on the belief that barefoot footwear is regenerative to human health. All Vivobarefoot footwear is designed to be wide, thin and flexible to promote your foot's natural strength and movement and allow you to feel the ground beneath your feet. Combining indigenous wisdom with modern innovation, the company’s product range consists of natural, biosynthetic and recycled material products of minimalist design.

Now, with the new VivoBiome platform and its overhauled approach to footwear manufacturing, the company provides opportunities to produce items economically in smaller quantities; and has the potential to transform what was once a highly labor-intensive process to one that is highly automated, which will allow for supply chain simplification and a shift back to local production. VivoBiome also gives manufacturers the ability to use new types of material that improve comfort and performance. The brand is targeting consumers whose priorities are to purchase sustainably while offering shoes that speak to the intricacies of someone’s individual foot shape, gait and improved health by choosing barefoot.

Be a part of the pilot

Vivobarefoot is calling for 200 UK pioneers to test pilot the first generation of VivoBiome products before a wider global launch next year. The pioneer program is run on an application basis. Each successful applicant will be able to scan their feet; configure their footwear; and receive three pairs of bespoke, first-generation products to test. Participants will also be asked to provide feedback that will inform adjustments or developments for later models, and be able to vote on future design releases and try them on in augmented reality. They will also be first in line for any new releases, gain access to exclusive foot health and movement masterclasses, be invited to events hosted with other participants and have lifetime access to the VivoHealth hub which hosts courses from natural health experts across the world. The whole bundle is priced at £260 and limited to 200 participants.

“VivoBiome is not just a new product, it’s a radical vision for a circular system — enabled by technology to reimagine manufacturing that takes it back to its roots,” Asher Clark says. “Indigenous footwear has been made for millennia person-by-person, foot-by-foot and out of local materials — a far cry from the mass-marketed products that are destined for landfills — and we want to get back to this heart of community-driven innovation and production.

“VivoBiome is a de-growth evolution in the face of an unsustainable human and planetary health trajectory. The future is at our feet; and we want to be part of the solution that empowers communities to be the feet on the ground that can change it for the better.”

Following the pioneer program, the first generation of footwear to purchase will be available early 2024.

The global community can register for VivoBiome to get regular updates on the project and notifications when the project comes close to their region. Find out more about the project here.