2024.05.13

Baby Shoes Chosen by Babies: The Charm of Attipas, Which Allows Walking with a Barefoot-like Sensation

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Attipas, a walking education shoe developed based on the results of 7 years of research, is designed to give babies the 'barefoot sensation' they need. Developed based on biomechanical knowledge, what are the attractions of these shoes?

Yuka Sumida from weskiii Inc. has shared the charm of Attipas sock shoes and tips on how to choose first shoes.

PROFILE

Yuka Sumida

weskiii Inc. COO

Born in Kobe in 1981. After graduating from an art school, she studied abroad in London. She traveled around European countries, discovering the intrigue of the overseas. After returning to Japan, she moved to Hiroshima in 2007 upon getting married. While helping with the family retail business, she started sourcing in Europe around 2013 wanting to offer products that make women happy. She moved his base to Tokyo in 2017 and established Weskiii in the fall of 2018. As a buyer who seeks lovely products from abroad to enrich everyday life, She travels the world. She is also a working mother raising three children.

Conveying Attractive Global Brands & Products to Japan

Our company serves as an agency for brands collected from around the world with the theme 'enriching life'. What led to starting this business?

My husband, myself, and another staff member started the company. In our twenties, we traveled and studied in various European countries as backpackers, realizing there are still many interesting things in the world.

There are numerous exciting brands and products that have yet to launch in Japan. By introducing them, I aimed to provide opportunities for enriching lives, which led to starting this venture.

On this journey, you encountered Attipas. Can you tell us how you started to sell these sock shoes in Japan?

Attipas is a brand established by someone from South Korea. When I met him, he shared that his primary motive was to create shoes in which children could walk safely and comfortably.

The brand name 'Attipas' combines 'Atti' (Korean for precious friend) and 'pas' (French for step). These shoes, born from the desire to accompany children during their important first steps, were developed in 2011 in collaboration with Seoul National University, based on cognitive neurodevelopment and biomechanics.

Together with Seoul National University, Attipas has conducted extensive research over 7 years on the structure of baby's feet bones, the shape of toes, and the sole design to determine the most suitable shoes for babies. Based on these studies, five types of shoes were designed, and thus Attipas was created.

Tell us about the features of Attipas sock shoes.

Babies walking barefoot can maximize the use of foot soles and toe flexibility, which is why barefoot is best for beginning walkers. Attipas shoes are designed to emulate this.

Baby feet are naturally chubby and flat-footed without arches. The plumpness acts as a cushion due to the fat.

Generally, Attipas soles do not have any cushioning, utilizing the natural cushioning (fat) of baby's foot soles. The thin sole helps read various terrains through the feet, allowing babies to use their toes while walking, thereby facilitating a natural walking style that is close to being barefoot.

The sole of Attipas does not contain cushioning, making use of the natural cushioning of baby's soles. The thin sole allows the baby to feel various terrains such as uneven surfaces and slopes, enhancing the natural sensory feedback and enabling them to walk using their toes, similar to barefoot walking.

Additionally, babies' toes are splayed, but as they begin to walk, arches develop in their feet and their skeletal structure matures.

Thus, the shape of a baby's foot is fundamentally different from that of an adult, which means choosing shoes requires entirely different considerations. It's essential to select shoes that accommodate the unique needs of a baby's foot.

As babies start walking, they gradually achieve a straighter foot alignment, even though they wobble at first. During this phase, they grasp the floor with their toes to maintain balance. Wearing heavy shoes that prevent toe use can increase the risk of falling.

In this respect, Attipas shoes are designed with a wide toe area and are lightweight to reduce the burden on babies who are just starting to walk.