The River Runners will be "nail proof." Image: ChennaBaree.com
With warmer weather and loosened COVD-19 regulations hopefully on the way, a Saint John entrepreneur is on a mission to create the perfect shoe for people to enjoy the outdoors in.
Paul Kasdan, the founder of the Chenna Baree shoe company is taking preorders for his most ambitious shoes to date: The River Runners.
Kasdan is a shoemaker by trade who previously worked in the IT industry. When his IT company ClinicServer sold in 2014, he decided it was time to start a new project in orthopedics.
Chenna Baree launched its first product, a vegan-friendly, biodegradable shoe made out of natural linen and natural rubber, in 2017 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. He also launched a line of all-natural shoe insoles called the Chenna Baree Ortho-Natural Insole.
“The River Runners grew out of my first project which was Chenna Baree Earth Conscious Shoe,” says Kasdan. “I got really go interested in minimalist footwear that was really flexible and for the Tai Chi, yoga, camping, trail walking kind of market. The mild exercise type of footwear where your foot is very close to the ground, almost like going barefoot.”
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Though the Chenna Baree Earth Conscious Shoe was a success for Kasdan, it was manufactured overseas at an ethical factory in China. Kasdan’s ultimate goal is to find a way to create a quality shoe locally that’s also reasonably priced.
“I experimented with and came up with some very interesting techniques for creating footwear that’s made out of completely local fabrics and all biodegradable,” says Kasdan. “The problem is, I haven’t figured out how to create that kind of footwear at a price point that is affordable to most people.
The River Runners is an experiment to see if I can create an affordable, made-here type of footwear that’s designed for a specific market niche.”
The River Runners. Image: Image: ChennaBaree.com
The funky-coloured River Runners is a light-weight outdoor shoe with hand laminated Aramid (Kevlar) and Natural Rubber sole. The super-thin sole is very puncture resistant and fire-resistant, making it a great option for those who like being outdoors on both land and water.
“I’m not trying to create footwear for everybody for every occasion,” says Kasdan. “The River Runners are designed to be extremely light-weight but also protective in the sense that in the woods there can be thorns and in the water, there can be sharp objects like razor clams. It’s essentially a protective barefoot-type of shoe.”
Kasdan is currently taking pre-orders for the River Runners, which will be made-to-order. Customers can put down a $10 deposit, then pay the final $135 on completion. Though the shoes may appeal to the more outdoorsy type, he’s getting orders from people from all walks of life.
“I have some preorders now and they’re from a wide variety. I have 80-year-olds, as well as teenagers that, have placed pre-orders. I’m not sure what they’re responding to, whether they really like the funk or the fact that’s it’s made locally,” says Kasdan.
“But it’s also a foot-friendly shape. It’s not going to constrain the foot. It’s not going to be as durable as footwear with a heavy rubber sole, there’s no way. I’m marketing it as a light-weight shoe.”
Production will begin in mid-May, with each will pair of River Runners hand-made by Kasdan in his home workshop[. He will also have someone working with him, once regulations around containing the spread of COVID-19 allow him too.
“I was training somebody to help me before COVID-19 broke out. So right now, it’s only me,” he says. “So the production is going to be pretty darn slow.”
Eventually, Kasdan would like to build a “cottage industry” around his method of shoemaking.
“My vision is to ultimately create a small-scale cottage industry. One of the things that I’ve tried to do is create shoe-making techniques that could be done on a very small scale that’s still at a commercial price,” he says. “My vision would be to teach other people to be able to make them in their own facility or to start a small factory.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
