When people see grass, they want to take off their shoes. The grass in a park, the artificial turf area in a shopping mall. Children naturally go barefoot and start running, even without a shoe box. There's a softness to the ground, a feeling of free movement in their toes. The soles of their feet feel the ground, and their bodies feel lighter. It's an experience where the body itself awakens, a little different from the everyday life protected by shoes.
Perhaps people instinctively crave the sensation of touching the ground barefoot. Feeling the ground with the soles of their feet and moving their bodies using their toes. This is the natural way our bodies are meant to move. This is the sensation NEULO returns to when designing its midsoles.
Feel the ground, yet walk at a good pace.
Human feet are naturally designed to walk on soil and grass. However, in modern urban life, most of the day is spent on asphalt. If the sole is too thin, the sole of the foot receives excessive impact; if it's too thick, the sensation of the ground itself is lost. The soles of the feet have receptors that sense posture and balance, and if this information is blocked by thick cushioning, the feet become mere carriers.
NEULO's midsole strikes a balance between these two extremes. It maintains a thinness that allows ground information to reach the sole of the foot, while also providing just enough cushioning to prevent fatigue even after walking on asphalt all day. This is the philosophy embodied in the 13mm thick midsole. It's a midsole that doesn't interfere with your walking rhythm, allowing you to stride along briskly.
Soft EVA, flexing with your toes
We adopted a soft EVA for the material. We aimed to create a sole that flexes along with the movement of the toes as they push off the ground.
In the final moment of walking, the toes push off the ground to generate propulsion. However, if the sole is stiff and doesn't flex, even if the toes try to push the ground, the sole will act like a rigid board, stopping that movement. The toes will swing freely, and the power that should be exerted will be lost.
The soft EVA flexes readily with the movement of the toes. The forefoot flexes significantly, and the sole moves along with the toes. The toes can once again participate in walking.
This is directly linked to NEULO's design philosophy of minimizing toe spring. Many shoes assist walking with a large toe spring, but in doing so, they take over the natural function of the toes. NEULO retains the sensation of the toes themselves pushing off the ground with a flexible midsole and minimal toe spring.
Feel the ground. And protect your feet. Recreating that sensation of walking barefoot on grass, on urban asphalt. That is the question NEULO addresses with its midsole.
