A hearty welcome to Joya, a new line of men's and women's shoes that began arriving in the U.S. May, 2011.
Joya isn't just a new line of shoes, it's a new type of shoe.
The brainchild of Karl Mueller, Jr. the Joya brand makes a promise that seems outlandish: "World's Softest Shoe." (btw, Mueller's father, Karl Sr, invented the MBT shoe spotted on Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Christina Aguilera)
Joya shoes, according to the company, make walking "a joyful and effortless experience."
Does it live up to the claims?
After wearing a pair of Joya for two weeks, I quibble with the marketing, but not the claims.
The marketing claim (World's Softest Shoe) would be better worded to say Joya makes WALKING softer. From the claims, I expected soft, cushy insoles and uber comfort. Not so. The real difference isn't when you put the shoe on, but when you walk around. After once around the block, it's easy to be a convert.
This is bliss
In fact, for a walker, this is bliss. The secret is in the patented sole (see the video) . The sole, in combination with high-end materials throughout the shoe, creates a soft, "I could walk forever" buoyancy that you feel throughout your body. In addition, the shoe is designed to circulate air throughout the shoe, so even the closed styles help your feet stay cooler.
And this, my hearty endorsement, comes even though the stylish Venezia I was testing didn't fit. Joya, I've since discovered, run small and are best fitted at a retailer and not ordered by mail until you know what works for you.*[Update: please see note at bottom where Joya comments on the sizing and fit]. Were it not for the fact that the back Achilles notch and the toe area were crimping my foot, I would have permanently sworn off my other shoes. As it was, even with the slight discomfort of the too-small Joya, the brand I've been wearing for several years now feels clunky. Almost irksome.
Pain free walking
Caesar Snee, owner of Z-Coil Pain Relief Footwear in San Jose (2077 Camden Avenue), is one of the first U.S. retailers to carry the Joya line. Snee specializes in shoes that help eliminate pain of the foot, leg, knee, hip and back; pain often caused because wearing the wrong shoes have thrown someone's body out of alignment.
As Snee describes it, if you reduce the impact of every step you take, and your body is aligned properly, then you won't have the inflamation and pain.
Snee (like me) had just started to test his first pair of Joya, but his early assessment was that this is a shoe his customers will love. "Once you try out a pair," he said, "you keep coming back to it." The cushioning is very kind to the foot, he explains and helps overcome the hard and harsh surfaces that most of us walk on all day.
A vacation must-have
Calling Joya a walking shoe is probably a bad description. That implies something for arthritic-ridden octogenarians or for people out for a stroll.
Joya is better dubbed the shoe you'd most want to wear to Disneyland, or your must-have shoes for a day spent walking along the Las Vegas Strip. [Of course it's also a good shoe if you like to walk around the block or go to the mall, or to wear on your first 5k, or just about any place where you are walking on a hard surface for a long period of time}.
Developed in Switzerland and Italy and produced in South Korea, Joya is priced from $195 to $239. Despite the high price point, Snee predicts that Joya will make its mark in the U.S. due to the quality materials and the longer-life of the shoe.
While most walking shoes last 6 months to a year, according to the Joya website "It will take at least four million steps before the high tech material wears out -- this equates to approximately two years of use but may vary slightly from individual to individual (and based on which surfaces used)".
For more information on the studies done, the various testimonials and to sign up for the newsletter, see the website at www.joya-usa.com.
*Notation: In fairness, I point out that I have very hard to fit feet and can purchase almost no shoes by mail initially. Even so, according to shoe retailer Caesar Snee, Joya doesn't run true to what some Americans are used to. After reading this review the company sent the following note:
Joya women's shoes run true to European size. Since the Swiss company has been selling mainly in Europe over the last couple years and has not exported to the US -- the US women's sizes run 1/2 a size short with these first batches in the marketplace. For accurate women's sizing for now please refer to our size conversion chart http://www.joya-usa.com/sortiment/groessen.html and base your fitting on European Sizing and then converting to your US size...
That being said going forward from September 1, 2011 delivery the sizing on all women's Joyas will be adjusted so that they also run true to size based on US sizing.
Disclosures: A pair of Joya shoes was sent to me at no cost for evaluation.
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