Earth Footwear Review

“Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac –
A little voice inside my head said don’t look back, you can never look back.”
- Don Henley, “The Boys of Summer” (video after post)

(*Admin note: I have a whole personal story about this song, which I may or may not share here; if the review gets too long, the music story can wait for its own post someday. We’ll see.)

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When I first mentioned that I would be reviewing a pair of Earth Shoes, some initial reactions took me by surprise.
Several people made comments to me like “I remember those shoes – they were standard hippie attire back in the 1970s.” Since that decade found me more into toy cars and T-ball games than groovy trips and free love, I understandably missed out on that whole scene. And considering that the Earth Shoes I’m testing are probably the nicest looking office attire I’ve worn all year, I didn’t initially make the connection between these shoes and their tie-dyed, flowers-in-our-hair beatnik ancestors.

So think of the Earth Footwear company as the aging Deadhead who grows to embrace social respectability in his adulthood, while still holding fast to his nonconformist ideals. They allow you look mature on the outside, but stay as counterculture as you want to be on the inside.

Counterculture is actually a pretty fitting word for Earth Footwear’s signature philosophy in shoe design. Instead of the traditional elevated heel and lowered forefoot, they flip that pattern completely around: the heel sits close to the ground, while the forefoot angles upward (at a precisely 3.7 degree angle – more on that later). The sunken heel simulates the feeling of bare feet on soft ground, and provides postural and biomechanical advantages over standard footwear.

Vintage, dude ... don't go trippin'

The design is the brainchild of a Danish yoga instructor named Anne Kalso, who developed what would become her iconic wooden sandal in the late 1960’s. An American tourist, Raymond Jacobs, discovered them in a shop in Copenhagen, and partnered with Kalso to introduce the design to US markets in 1970 – coincidentally, on April 22nd, which was the very first Earth Day. The “reversed shoe” quickly became a popular nonconformist symbol, right up there with long hair, peace symbols, and back-to-nature communes. However, in the same way that the hippie movement lost steam and became marginalized, the popularity of Earth shoes plummeted, and they eventually disappeared from the market in the late 1970s.

Thankfully, the company was later reborn as Earth Footwear, and it continues Kalso’s legacy, while at the same time catering to a much larger demographic than grown-up flower children. Today’s Earth Footwear styles are widely varied, combining the biomechanics of the early models with stylish fashion that is at home in any walk of life you can imagine.

I chose the Zmoc model from Earth’s Kalso-Lite line, so named because of their lightweight construction: the weight of the Zmoc is less than 9 oz, which is equivalent to many lightweight running shoes on the market.

The Earth men's Zmoc

The upper is constructed primarily with lightweight leather, with the exception of the heel area. Here, the shoe is constructed with thin neoprene that prevents any constriction against your Achilles tendon, and allows the shoe to flex laterally in concert with your natural ankle movement. The forefoot area is also very roomy, allowing your toes to spread apart as they would if you were barefoot.

In addition to being angled upward (we’re getting to that, I promise), the midsole is made of a form-fitting Biofoam footbed. This cushioning material molds to the shape of the foot, which helps displace and absorb shock with each step. It’s also an eco-friendly material, using 70% recycled content.

(As you would imagine from a company founded on Earth Day, Earth Footwear takes environmental considerations very seriously. They use high percentages of recycled content for all products and packaging, and are an industry leader in eliminating toxic materials from the production process. 2010 will mark a major milestone for them, as they will introduce an entirely biodegradable midsole called the BioStep [scroll down on link] for every model in their Spring collection. So even though my Zmoc looks like a dress shoe, it’s still got a tree-hugger’s soul. And midsole.)

The bottom of the Zmoc features an outsole with deep grooves in both the forward and lateral directions, allowing good forefoot flexibility. Although traction isn’t usually a prominent feature of dress shoes, the Earth outsole seems to be equivalent to a decent pair of sneakers when it comes to grip.

The 3.7 degree incline

As mentioned earlier, however, the signature feature of Earth footwear is its inclined midsole construction, which now goes by the name Kalso Negative Heel Technology. The toes sit at a 3.7 degree angle above the heels, which subtly shifts your body weight back over your heels, and creates a ground feel as if you were walking on a slightly uphill surface.

Since it’s an unorthodox standing and walking angle for most users, Earth claims that this position provides whole-body benefits – and from a biomechanics standpoint, that claim is accurate. The postural adjustments are almost automatic: a more upright spine and neutral pelvis (not tilted backward), and slight activation of the core muscles in your trunk. You’ll feel your calves stretch, and your lower extremity muscles will make small adjustments to maintain your new center of balance. (A lot of this is very similar to the “unstable platform” theory of MBT shoes – but in a far lighter and much less expensive shoe.)

Where the benefits seem a bit of a stretch is how Earth claims that the negative heel technology increases your metabolism - or, as the home page declares, you’ll burn more calories with every step. The theory is that all those small muscle contractions and adaptations trigger a higher energy demand and caloric consumption than when they’re stuck in regular shoes. While that claim may be technically true, I imagine the actual difference in daily caloric expenditure between using Earth shoes and another brand is so slight as to be insignificant. In other words, you won’t lose weight just by wearing these shoes; if you want to slim down, just go for a run first, then slip into Earth shoes afterward.

Questionable health claims aside, I found my Earth Zmocs to be extremely comfortable, and an excellent lightweight option in place of standard office dress shoes. From a barefooter’s standpoint, there’s not as much pure carryover of barefoot adaptation – primarily in ground feel - as with purely minimalist shoes such as Vivo Barefoot, but the postural changes are fairly similar, with similar biomechanical benefits.

The Earth Zmoc retails for $119 on the Earth website and other online retailers. The black version I tested is also available with multiple sizes discounted to $90 at Amazon.com.


*Product provided by Earth Footwear
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Don Henley, “The Boys of Summer” (click to play):


(As for my song story … I’ll hold that until the weekend.)