Recovery sandal idea launches after crowdfunding success
Functional footwear brand Joe Nimble has successfully launched a ‘recovery sandal’ following a crowdfunding exercise. It developed the product in the second half of 2020 and started shipping it to customers in April.
Called ‘recoverToes’, Joe Nimble says the sandals can help “rehabilitate tired feet after exercise”.
The design uses polyurethane to work like braces do on teeth, the company said. This involves the alignment of the big toes with a special footbed that spaces out the other toes to improve foot shape and structure, ease plantar pressure and stimulate foot nerve endings to improve circulation.
It worked with researchers at Footwear Innovation Lab in Germany and with polyurethane technology provider Huntsman to perfect the idea. It uses Huntsman’s Daltoped polyurethane footwear system technology.
Daltoped Aqua PUR, a low-density polyurethane, makes the soft inner part of the sandal. For the outer surface, Huntsman and Footwear Innovation Lab adapted a Daltoped grip grade to work with a concept called the Stemma RPU spray. This system allows complex bottom designs to be realised without having to worry about potential air bubbles, Huntsman has said.
