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Last time Tropicfeel crowdfunded on Kickstarter, the Barcelona-based shoe brand racked up $1M in just 20 days. That was for the “Monsoon,” the first of their travel-focused sneaks. Now they’re back with the Canyon, which has already raised a quarter of a million dollars on a $37K goal … with 56 days left to go.
Quick time-out: What the hell is a travel shoe, anyway? In the “About Us” section of their website, Tropicfeel claims that during a 2016 trip to Thailand, the founders came to a few realizations:
- They were all wearing different shoes …
- Which grew irreversibly water-damaged during the trip …
- And their backpacks were way too heavy from carrying extra sneaks.
Tropicfeel’s sneakers, — especially the just-dropped Canyon — address all these concerns. The Canyon is the one travel shoe to rule them all, a lightweight, 100% waterproof slip-on with the outer sole grip of a hiking boot. Not to mention, 70% of its mesh construction is made from plastic water bottles. One of the company’s sayings is “Made for exploring everything, from New York City to the Galapagos,” which is obviously silly, but the claimed versatility here is appealing.
I went to Bergen, Norway a couple years ago and would’ve loved to have this shoe. We hiked up to the mountain overlooking the city, went kayaking through the fjords, went out for tacos (surprisingly serviceable) and I wore a different shoe each time.
Canyon is available in five colors on Kickstarter now, and if you make moves fast you can get a sizable early bird discount — $72, instead of $130.
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