As more and more people wear trainers as their everyday shoes (even with formal clothing such as a suit), shoemakers have increasingly pursed comfort as a goal in traditional footwear. 

And now luxury footwear brand Harrys London has announced a development in the area of shoe comfort via a new technical footbed unit, entitled HLTSystem, that it “hopes will transform the comfort of the brand’s shoes forever”.

It said that over the last year-and-a-half, its Creative Director Graeme Fidler has been working with the sports experts at the Harley Street-based Marylebone Health Group (MHG), to levelop the footbed. It’s now being launched in a new loafer designed by Fidler.

“Always on a mission to innovate for their customers, Fidler briefed the MHG to conduct a deep dive into the stresses and pressures that impact the foot during walking,” we’re told. “Armed with this research, Fidler fed this information to specialist sports design studio IIID, which designed the footbed Harrys present today.”

The new loafer that houses it is called, appropriately, the Harley after the street that inspired its creation. It was also inspired by Harrys’ Downing loafer that has been best-seller since the brand’s launch.

And in addition to the footbed, a new Vibram sole unit has been developed for the Harley, “which has been designed to work in conjunction with the footbed technology for ultimate comfort and support”.

It’s all “designed to benefit the well-being of the whole body, from head to toe”.

With the aim of developing an anatomical approach to foot support, MHG studied how the sinusoidal motion of human walking – the cyclical movement that encompasses posture, rhythm, balance and speed – interacts with the pressure points of the feet to arrive at the blueprint for a “feet-first approach to holistic well-being”.

Specialist sports design studio IIID then applied MHGs findings to Harrys’ trademark Technogel insole – the gel-filled capsule form of which ensures weight distribution and impact relief – to arrive at the multi-faceted HLTSystem footbed.

The company said it’s “designed more from an anatomical than an orthopaedic perspective” and is made from foam gel and Technogel, “with an all-important interspersing layer of air, and is both ergonomic and markedly light.”

As for that new in-house designed Vibram sole, it’s made from a durable rubber compound filled with Vibram foam and features a geometric lug sole for grip.