Table of Contents
The landscape for barefoot shoes in Australia is a crowded one. Here’s your complete guide to the brands available and where you can find them. From the 2 homegrown brands in Australia to the physical stores where you can try some of the leading brands before buying.
If you’re looking to buy a specific brand and wondering what your options are, scroll down to the table at the end of this post that is summarizing all your options.
Barefoot shoes brands made in Australia
Peracles Footwear
Peracles footwear: founded by Andres near Byron Bay and one of our Foresighted Gems for being minimalist, handmade and using the best sustainable local materials possible. Peracles produces both sandals and leather shoes suitable for the office. Definitely check it out.
Paperkrane Shoes
Paperkrane shoes: founded by 2 moms in Melbourne, with a very unique street style throughout the range but also essentials like school shoes and office shoes.
Brands selling directly to you from their Australian websites
A few brands have dedicated Australian websites to directly sell to consumers without buying from another retailer:
- Leguano: Australian website here
- Vivobarefoot: Australian website here
- Xero Shoes Australia: Australian distributor for Xero Shoes
Multi-brands online retailers
While there are only a handful of brands with Australian operations, we’re fortunate to have a number of online retailers offering a wide range of brands:
- Barefoot Inc: the original distributor of Vibram Five fingers in Australia. Stocking them as well as Xero Shoes, Vivobarefoot, Earthrunners and Luna Sandals.
- Barefoot Shoes Australia: relatively recent Australian online retailer of minimalist shoes stocking the following brands: Be Lenka, Earthrunners, Vivobarefoot, Mukishoes, Barebarics, Xero Shoes, Groundies, Bohempia, Shapen and Zaqq. Definitely one of the best selection of brands and ranges in Australia.
- Barefootwear: a newcomer as well, selling Be Lenka, Barebarics and Ahinsa.
- bprimal: Australian & NZ online retailer offering the following brands (among others): Lems Shoes, Freet, Topo Athletic, Joe Nimble, Vivobarefoot, Shapen, Topo Athletics, Correct Toes & Injinji ToeSocks.
- Sole Mechanics: good line of Vivobarefoot & Xero Shoes available, a few Vibram Five Fingers and a couple of trail running brands that aren’t that minimalist.
- Wildfire Sports & Trek: carrying Vivobarefoot, Xero Shoes, Vibram Five Fingers, Leguano as well as a few models from mainstream brands with a more minimalist design.
- Natural Foot Health: stocking Ahinsa Shoes, Belenka, Lem’s Shoes, Topo Athletics, and in-house designed sandals.
Physical stores! Try before you buy…
Many people appreciate trying before buying, especially if they’re transitioning to more minimalist footwear. If you’re in luck, these 2 options are accessible for you:
- Sole Mechanics: for those in Melbourne, you’re in luck with Sole Mechanics’s physical store. Vivobarefoot, Xero Shoes and Vibram Five Fingers.
- Wildfire Sports & Trek: online retailer with a physical store in Brisbane. Vivobarefoot, Xero Shoes, Leguano and Vibram Five Fingers.
Looking for a specific brand and want to know all your options?
Use the following table for a quick summary of which multi-brand retailer carries which brand. Scroll right to your brand at the top, see which store are carrying it and click through to the ones you want to check out!
| Retailer | Ahinsa | Barebarics | Be Lenka | Bohempia | Earthrunners | Freet | Groundies | Joe Nimble | Leguano | Lem’s Shoes | Luna Sandals | Mukishoes | Shapen | Vibram Five Fingers | Vivobarefoot | Xero Shoes | Zaqq |
| Barefoot Inc | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||
| Barefoot Shoes Australia | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Barefootwear | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||
| bprimal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||
| Natural foot health | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||
| Sole mechanics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||
| Wildfire Sports & Trek | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Summary table
FAQs
Which brands are both barefoot / minimalist and sustainably produced?
Peracles footwear is the gold standard, sustainably produced with natural materials. Vivobarefoot has a strong focus on sustainable manufacturing.
Where can I find barefoot / minimalist school shoes?
Here are the brands carrying models that fit the school shoes requirements: bprimal, Vivobarefoot, Paperkrane shoes. See our Australian barefooot school shoes for the complete list.
