Fancy a walk from Basel to Paris?
Our soles and heels are tested by SATRA Technologies
When was the last time you walked anywhere? And I don’t mean to and from the grocery store.
When we designed VYN we wanted to give everyone that owns a pair of our sneakers the most comfortable and good-looking option to get from A to B. Every decision we made in the design process was to support your feet in walking in comfort. Beautiful silky soft calf lining that cradles your feet, our cork insole that adapt with every step and, of course, the upper leather that gives the luxury look and feel to our sneakers.
But what about the sole? Isn’t the sole the part that grounds us with every step?
Yes, it is indeed... and that is why we designed and developed our self-repairable sole in the way we did. Our sole is flexible and soft in the front and more structured in the back where the heel piece mechanism is situated. The heel is the unique piece in our sole. It gives you colour options, it guarantees longevity and most of all you can repair it yourself when it is time for you to exchange it.
Does the heel stay on?
That was one of the first things we needed to test so here is what we did. We tested our first prototypes with friends to see what happens while walking and we could achieve proof of this concept. After 8 months of wear, we were sure that the concept was sound and we went into production to make the first 500 pairs. But that was not enough, we wanted to know for sure. SATRA Technologies in Kettering UK is a footwear testing facility that provided us with SATRA TM362 (Pedatron) assessment which resulted in a use cycle for the heel piece between 80-100km and a use cycle for the sole unit of 500-600km.
So why Paris?
The distance between Basel and Paris on foot is approximately 580km which is the use cycle of our sole. Feel free to get going but don’t forget to bring your heel sets for on-the-road repair of the heel. Once in Paris enjoy the cafés, walking along the Seine and shopping in the Marais. Oh... and to get back you can always take the train and get the sneakers resoled when you are back in Switzerland (coming soon).
