Put the ambition
to the test.

VECTIV was the technical footwear platform at the heart of the performance work. A shaped plate under the foot, a curved midsole and an outsole designed for grip brought the ambition into the shoe itself.

We put the footwear on top athletes and took it into actual races. Athletes won races in the shoes. They also came back with feedback that shaped what we made next.

Competing at this level meant developing the knowledge behind the product, too: new materials, construction expertise and the experience of testing ambitious footwear in competition. We were building the ability to keep improving, season after season.

The Escape brief began with a woman who loved being in nature without describing herself as “outdoorsy.” She might be on a mountain trail or in a city park. The shoe needed to feel right in either setting.

I designed the first-generation VECTIV lifestyle footwear around that broader view of exploration. Sculpted soles, tactile materials and softer upper constructions gave the technology a different expression, developed through FUTURELIGHT and knit versions of Escape Trail.

Back to Berkeley, the brand’s heritage-inspired footwear family, called for a different kind of reinvention. We kept its familiar outdoor character while exploring new proportions, colors, materials and constructions across high-top and boot designs.

The line also needed to work when speed wasn’t the point. Sandals and camp shoes brought the brief into warmer days, time around camp and the moments after the boots came off.

We explored simpler constructions, comfort and a more relaxed expression of the brand. These products had different jobs from the race footwear, and needed design attention on their own terms.