Vivobarefoot are protecting our feet and planet
A new VivoBiome footwear system is designed to minimise material waste
Are your shoes kind to your feet? How about the environment?
If you haven’t given it much thought, now could be the time to start.
Vivobarefoot are a UK-based B Corp and leading brand for minimalist or ‘barefoot’ footwear.
The thinking behind them is that today’s ‘normal’ shoe fashions are not natural for our feet, making them shoe-shaped and weak which can negatively impact the way we move. But ‘barefoot’ footwear allows feet to move more naturally.
In 2023, Vivobarefoot launched VivoBiome, an innovative, market-disrupting scan-to-print footwear system. Designed to fit feet perfectly, shoes are made using adaptive manufacturing techniques that minimise material waste and prioritise recycling.
It’s a brilliant idea from a family business, bringing sustainability and technology together. And part of an exciting journey for the Deloitte Legal team working with Vivobarefoot, helping to secure solid foundations for growth by protecting its ideas and tech.
According to Vivobarefoot, over 24 billion pairs of shoes are produced globally each year and over 90% of these are likely to end up in landfill
Vivobarefoot don’t want to add to this pile, and its owners know that lots of us don’t either. Deloitte’s sustainable consumer research found that almost a quarter of us are willing to pay a premium for more sustainable products.
Behind the brand are founders Galahad and Asher Clark, seventh-generation cobblers and cousins, whose mission is to reconnect people to nature and their natural potential. Starting with feet.
The belief that the closer people are to nature, the more they will protect it and the healthier they will become is at the heart of their brand.
Their commitment to ethical ideas and the environment includes planet-friendly ideas, designs and materials. There’s also a UK-based shoe repair service that’s designed to keep more of Vivobarefoot’s footwear on feet and away from landfill.
In July 2023, the company offered followers something new, with VivoBiome.
A million miles from a one-size-fits-all, mass-market approach, it is designed to be planet friendly and make footwear, person-by-person, foot-by-foot and locally.
The world doesn’t need new shoes. It needs a new system.
Vivobarefoot
A fit for every foot
These are exciting times for Vivobarefoot. A once-niche trend for barefoot shoes is becoming mainstream and its innovations are helping to stir up a market that’s projected to be worth £626.5 million by 2031.
Deloitte Legal has shared Vivobarefoot’s journey for the best part of a decade, helping with everything from IP to contracts. And its VivoBiome expansion has made securing and safeguarding its IP a business-critical priority.
“Vivobarefoot is hard to define,” says Richard Reeve-Young, a director in the Deloitte Legal team supporting the company.
“It’s a shoe brand that’s fast growing in popularity, it’s a technology focused business pushing boundaries in digital design and 3D manufacturing, and it’s a business that’s committed to safeguarding, and minimising its own footprint, on the planet.”
A Vivobarefoot wearer himself, Richard has had the full VivoBiome experience, scanning his feet on an app and designing the shoes in VivoBiome’s innovative digital platform. They were 3D printed nearby. And the customisation means a perfect fit.
“It’s a fantastic idea,” he says. “Until the launch of VivoBiome, the company was mainly producing shoes in conventional ways, but using sustainable materials and techniques to reduce its footprint.
“This is a fundamentally different approach to manufacturing footwear, that’s as soft on the planet as possible.”
Next-gen compostable shoes
It can take a community to get great ideas off the ground, and that’s the case here.
In new tech-based territory, and with Deloitte’s help, Vivobarefoot has built an ecosystem of experts in 3D printing, design and tech around their shoe expertise.
For its newest innovation, the company has teamed up with material science company Balena whose recyclable thermoplastic can be industrially composted and scaled for mass production.
Together, they’ll create shoes that are fully biodegradable, so nothing goes to landfill. Currently in the testing phase, this next generation of barefoot shoes looks set to hit the market in 2025.
“It’s amazing to be working with Vivobarefoot,” continues Richard. “This development potentially has massive implications for their business, how shoes are made for generations to come, with a hugely positive impact on the planet.
“We’re supporting its work relating to, for example, branding, its agreements with partners, collaborators, sponsors and international distributors.
“It’s all about protecting products that are pushing boundaries and helping to de-risk the commercial side of the venture, which now includes understanding the current landscape for 3D-printed footwear and guiding the business through the patent process.
“For us, it’s about providing the confidence to keep disrupting the industry, knowing that as they shape the market, their ideas are protected. And helping to provide safe ground to move forward on, so they can reach their full potential.”
