It started with a question that didn't have a good answer: can a sandal protect your toes?
Back in 2003, our founder was on a sailboat. Anyone who's spent time on a boat knows the feeling — every hard edge and metal cleat is a threat to bare feet, especially the toes hanging over the front of a sandal. Most people just accepted that as the trade-off. He didn't. He kept thinking about why sandals had to leave your toes exposed, and whether there was a way to combine the open-air feel with actual protection.
That question led to the Newport sandal. A sandal with a rubber toe bumper built right in. It looked different from anything else on the shelf. Retailers were skeptical at first. Some thought it was ugly. But people who tried it understood immediately — this was the sandal you could wear on trails, in water, on a boat, and around town without worrying about stubbing your toe or dropping something on your foot.
Over twenty years later, that same idea still drives everything we do. We're not a brand that follows trends. We're a brand that solves problems. Whether it's a hiking boot that won't fall apart on the trail, a work shoe that handles a twelve-hour shift, or a slip-on that you can wear from the campsite to the coffee shop, every product starts with a question about what's missing or what could work better.
We've grown a lot since the early days. We now make trail shoes, hiking boots, winter boots, work footwear, and a whole range of casual styles for men, women, and kids. We own and operate a portion of our manufacturing — something most footwear brands don't do — which lets us test new ideas faster and push better practices through our supply chain. Our products are sold around the world, and we're a family-owned company, which means we answer to ourselves and our customers, not shareholders.
But the thing we're most proud of isn't a product. It's the way we try to operate. We've spent over a decade working to remove toxic chemicals from our footwear. We've hit 100% renewable electricity across every facility we own and operate. We've invested in making shoes that last, because the most sustainable shoe is the one you don't have to replace.
We're not perfect. We're still figuring things out. But we're trying to do business in a way that leaves the outdoors better than we found it — because without the outdoors, none of this makes sense.