Skins Footwear is a novel concept: separate the skin of the shoe from the structure of the shoe. This separation allows for a couple of really innovative advantages to the consumer. First, it creates a more economical way to mix and match your shoes by moving the structure from one skin to the next. As well, the different parts of the shoe wear out at different rates, so this means you don’t necessarily have to throw away the whole shoe. Really, the shoe is about conservation of materials. It’s a “green” shoe. Just look at the packaging, for instance. The box no longer has to be this big, bulky container of waste.

Unfortunately, no one will have the opportunity to buy the shoe for several more months as it’s just that new. But when the footwear does come out to retail, I predict it will probably gain a following with what I’d call the Whole Foods crowd. This is a perfect demographic, I’d say, however I really don’t see the shoe breaking into any other market like the super-hot sneaker wearers… unless the company starts to cultivate some uber-hip graffiti artists…