OAKAs are the world’s healthiest men’s dress shoe for active professionals.
OAKAs combine suit ready style with a zero drop inner sole made from soft, breathable fibers. Machine Washable, Slip-On, and Anti-Slip.
We made OAKAs to truly be the healthiest and best dress shoe available, representing a new kind of professional. I have been ripping the soles out of my traditional dress shoes for years trying to make them at least not be detrimental to my health by creating poor posture, changing my gait, and shortening the tendons.. Then I decided enough and set out to fix everything I hated about old school dress shoes.
Faux Heel
We developed a shoe mold that gives the typical dress shoe look from the outside but in fact is actually a faux heel derived from special cut outs allowing your foot to stay flat to the ground.
Soft, Breathable Fibers
The whole shoe is soft and flexible for extreme comfort. The upper is made from flyknit fibers that helps reduce production waste compared to more traditional manufacturing processes.
Anti – Slip
OAKAs have an innovative anti-slip open tread outer sole that utilizes our specialized faux heel cutouts as a way to drain water out and prevent hydroplaning like you’d find in a traditional dress shoe without you being able to see the treads from the outside like with a sneaker.
Zero Drop
OAKAs have a zero drop inner sole. What that means is as you walk your feet stay flat to the ground rather than at an angle like with almost all other shoes. Most shoes, not just dress shoes, have a 8mm to 16mm height difference between the toe box and the heel making you walk at an unnatural angle and can contribute to changing your gait, poor posture, shortening the tendons, and foot pain. A zero drop sole allows you to walk more naturally and strengthen your feet over time.
Slip On
Laces can be necessary but are often just annoying to deal with on a constant basis, so we made the whole shoe an easy slip on.
Machine Washable
OAKAs are completely machine washable making them ready for travel and any adventure.
Our Research
We’ve been developing OAKA for the last two years, spending many hours designing every aspect in order to fix what we’ve always hated about traditional dress shoes. We built the shoe mold from scratch to achieve a dress shoe form but with a zero drop sole.
We Built OAKA for Active Professionals
When I think about traditional dress shoes I imagine that old school banker in the back room smoking a cigar. However that’s not who I am nor my friends. We’re all good at what we do and are definitely professionals but we go about it in our own way. Think:
- Tech over finance
- Purpose driven work
- Body and mind as one
- West coast over East coast
- Nature to reset the mind & body
- Meditation for mental performance
- Working to live rather than living to work
The Traveler
Travel and mobility are incredibly important to us and OAKAs ability to fold up and be flexible make them perfect for the road.
The Barefoot Enthusiast
Being zero drop allows your feet to walk flat to the ground like you’re barefoot. This will help correct posture and allow your feet to strengthen over time.
Colors
We will start with 2 colors Gray and Black:
We do have a brown prototype as well but its production is highly dependent on hitting a certain number of preorders. If we start getting close we’ll announce the goal here.
Sizing Guide
Sizing Comparison – OAKAs sizing is similar to a traditional dress shoe though our toe box is slightly wider.
Half Sizes – If you typically wear a half size we recommend you sizing down.
Size Exchanges – We are committed to making sure you get the right fit and size and will have a full free exchange program to make sure of it.
SOURCE: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oaka/oaka-the-worlds-healthiest-dress-shoes
