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Where Are Vionic Shoes Made?
From a small workshop in Australia, Vionic moved to America, dreaming of becoming the orthopedic footwear choice of people worldwide.
This goal is reachable since it was featured in Oprah Winfrey’s Favorite Things in 3 straight years 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Where are Vionic shoes made? How good are these orthopedic shoes?
Let’s learn about the origins of Vionic shoes to better understand its historical growth in the past decade.
Contents
Vionic Shoes Overview
Vionic (Vionic Group LLC) is an American orthopedic footwear company. Philip J. Vasyli, a veteran Australian podiatrist, found Vionic in 1979. This brand was started to provide affordable shoes for foot-related problems.
Vionic relocated from Australia to its current headquarter in San Rafael, California, United States, in 2008. It was first called ‘Orthaheel’ for its original Orthaheel technology. In 2015, it was renamed to its current name – Vionic.
Vionic provides many footwear products for people of all genders, prices, and ages. Its products promise to support your arch and alleviate common foot-related issues.
Vionic shoes are now available to purchase in the United States and internationally.
Where Are Vionic Shoes Made?
Most Vionic shoes are made in two Asian countries – China and Taiwan. However, this orthopedic footwear brand plans to move its production to the United States soon.
United States
Until now, there is a small production facility of Vionic in the United States.
Assembling shoes outside the United States is more accessible with fewer environmental manufacturing restrictions. However, it takes non-renewable energy (like fossil fuels and fuel emissions) to ship raw materials back and forth to America.
Thus, Vionic plans to move its entire production line to the United States to minimize its environmental footprints on Earth. From 2010 to 2014, it lowered its greenhouse gas emissions by 20%.
Vionic is headquartered in California, the United States. Its headquarters is 18,000 square feet and has been upgraded with a budget of 2 million US dollars in 2013-2014.
Check more: Where Are Under Armour Shoes Made?
China
China accounts for making most of Vionic shoes. It is the footwear manufacturing hub of the world.
Whether you are in the U.S., Australia, Vietnam, or any part of the world, most chances are that you will find Vionic sandals with “made in China” tags.
There are several reasons why China is preferred for Vionic’s shoe manufacturing.
First, this country has many skillful workers who can accomplish all footwear models quickly with high standards.
Second, China’s manufacturing and labor costs are much lower than in America or other European countries.
Taiwan
Alongside China, Vionic also has some factories in Taiwan. Yet, there is no further information about its manufacturing in this country.
Who Owns Vionic Shoe Company?
Careles Inc. has been the owner of Vionic Group from 2018 till now. This American brand house acquired Vionic on October 2018 for $360 million.
This footwear giant was founded in 1878 and owns many footwear brands like Naturalizer, Scholl’s, Allen Edmonds, Sam Edelman, and Vince.
After the acquisition, Careles plans to diversify Vionic shoes to provide more supportive shoes for the general crowd.
Through new products, it also aims to drive brand awareness and boost profit for this brand.
How Vionic Shoes Are Made?
Sustainable Materials
Vionic shoes are carefully made with comfort, durability, and sustainability.
These shoes are made of sustainable materials like cork, organic cotton jute, recycled rubber, and vegan leather.
Besides its eco-friendliness, these materials are lightweight, breathable, and comfortable to use all day long.
Sustainable Production
Vionic Group has a clear mindset on a sustainable production process.
For example, it plans to switch all its production from China and Taiwan to the United States to minimize the non-renewable energy and emissions needed for material shipping.
Plus, it hires skillful American workers to support the local economy and labor force.
Alongside changes in its production process, Vionic also collaborates with environmental organizations. From 2021 till now, it has been a partner of PROTEUS Ocean Group.
These two firms plan to release Vionic’s eco-conscious Beach sneaker collection to raise ocean and climate change awareness.
With this collaboration, Vionic promise to replace fossil fuels with alternative fuels and renewable energy in its footwear assembly facility.
World’s Leading Technologies
Vionic shoes are also designed with the world’s leading technologies – Orthaheel, Vio-Motion, and FMT.
Orthaheel is the first exclusive Vionic technology and is also the first name of Vionic. It is an orthotic insert built into the footbed to support your natural gait from the ground and relieve foot and back pains.
This technology was first introduced by Vionic’s founder, Philip J. Vasyli, and was designed by podiatrists. Orthaheel was then upgraded and renamed to Vio-Motion – a patent footbed to support your foot health.
Furthermore, Vionic shoes are applied the FMT Technology. Like Vio-Motion, FMT technology provides a solid yet flexible foundation at every step.
It is also proven to reduce pains in various parts of your feet, like the heel, knee, shin, back, and the ball of your foot.
Vionic has received the APMA Seal of Acceptance and an endorsement from Andrew Weil, M.D., a world’s famous integrative medicine expert for this technology.
You can find some shoe models with FMT, like Islander, Fyn, Amber, Mojave, 3/4 Orthotic, etc.
Are Vionic Shoes Sold In Stores?
Vionic shoes are available online on Vionic’s official websites or offline at your local footwear retailers. You can check the Store Locator on the Vionic website to detect your nearest retail store.
Final Words
Most Vionic shoes are manufactured in two Asian countries – China and Taiwan. Due to its sustainability goal, Vionic plans to transfer its manufacturing facility from these countries to America.
As long as you get genuine Vionic shoes, you will fully benefit from its orthopedic design.