Camino™ Minimalist Leather Sandals Have Landed
Introducing the Camino™, the latest unisex minimalist leather sandals designed and handcrafted in our USA workshop with durable oil tanned leather uppers. Perfect for long hours of comfortable wear and versatile enough to take on your next outdoor journey, it's the quintessential comfortable barefoot sandal for summer!
Why Minimalist Leather Sandals?
In the last decade, many scientific research studies1,2,3 have come about showing that wearing flat, flexible "barefoot-like" shoes increases foot strength and stability when compared to footwear with arch supports or stiff outsoles. We designed the Camino Sandal to meet the criteria of minimalist footwear with a flexible sole, wide toe box, and heel strap. These 'barefoot' attributes are important in ensuring that you're supporting optimal foot function and a natural gait with every step.
The Camino Sandal is made on our Hybrid Regular sole shape and is able to accommodate many different unique foot shapes and widths due to the highly adjustable buckled straps. To see how the Camino compares to other sole shapes, check out our sole shape comparison tool!
"Camino means "path" in Spanish, and our inspiration was the sun-soaked pilgrimage trails of El Camino in Western Europe. We wanted to design a sustainable, minimal sandal that would provide all day comfort for wherever your path will take you."
– Softstar CEO Tricia Salcido
New to Barefoot Shoes?
If you are new to barefoot shoes, the Camino is a great transition shoe. The zero drop soles are thick enough to protect your feet from sharp objects in your path. However, the soles are not so stiff that they inhibit natural foot movement. Additionally, we sew the suede leather footbed on top of a thin layer of squishy foam to provide some shock absorption. It's helpful for people wanting to make the transition to stronger feet or for walking on hard surfaces all day. If you spend most of your time in traditional shoes with arch support and excessively cushioned soles, we recommend that you transition to minimal shoes gradually over the course of several months. Start with one hour a day and then increase to two. Learn more about how to safely transition to minimal footwear. Â
References
- Roy Curtis, Catherine Willems, Paolo Paoletti and Kristiaan D'Aout. Daily Activity in minimal footwear increases foot strength (20 September 2021)
- Nicholas Holowka, Ian Wallace and Daniel Lieberman. Foot strength and stiffness are related to footwear use in a comparison of minimally- vs. conventionally-shod populations (27 February 2018)
- Ridge, Sarah T.; Olsen, Mark T.; Bruening, Dustin A.; Jurgensmeier, Kevin; Griffin, David; Davis, Irene S.; and Johnson, A. Wayne, "Walking in Minimalist Shoes Is Effective for Strengthening Foot Muscles" (2018). Faculty Publications. 3159.
Anna joined the Softstar team in 2022 approximately a year after graduating from Oregon State University with a dual degree in Marketing and Management. She grew up on a local, rural farm and her passions include exploring the Oregon outdoors, traveling, sports, and playing instruments.