(Pocket-lint) – Gait-Tech may not be a company you may have heard of until now, but if you’re someone who enjoys wearing high heels, it’s definitely one to put on your radar.
At CES 2023, the Italian company unveiled what it claims is the first built-in solution for high heels to reveal discomfort and prevent injuries.
Interested? We were too, so we checked the heels with the technology at the Las Vegas show. Here’s what we learned and how the interplan is designed to work.
How does the insolent Gait-Tech solution work?
The Gait-Tech biomechanical device is integrated into the insole of high heels at the time of manufacture and is designed to “enhance the comfort of high heel shoes”.
According to the company, the solution is based on 30 years of research and it works by “redistributing pressure on the foot metatarsal bone to provide a healthier and more stable gait when the foot is vertical in plantar flexion”.
Mitigating the impact, heels using the solution should be more comfortable without the design being compromised thanks to it being hidden inside the sole.
In what shoes is the Gait-Tech insole solution?
Gait-Tech’s built-in insole debuted at CES 2023 in shoes designed by Italian shoe designer Diego Dolcini, who has previously worked with brands including Gucci, Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana and Ermenegildo Zegna.
There was a court shoe featuring the technology inside, as well as a thong shoe in patent black and patent red color. It’s hopefully just the beginning for this potentially game-changing device though.
Gait-Tech’s technology could – in theory – be put into any shoe – whether from Zara or Christian Louboutin, we were told. Since it is implemented in a production stage however, the company should of course be on board from the design stage because this is not a solution that can be renewed.
So that means if you already own a pair of Louboutins that you adore, they aren’t made any more comfortable by you adding the Gait-Tech solution to them. The only way to experience the technology these days is in the heels designed by Diego Dolcini.
Does the insolel Gait-Tech solution work?
However, we tried a pair of Diego Dolcini’s strappy heels with the Gait-Tech solution at CES 2023 and we’re not going to lie, we were pleasantly surprised by how comfortable they were.
This could really be a game changing solution for heel lovers. You’d never know from looking at the finished pair of heels that they have the inside technology inside, but when you put them on, the comfort and cushioning is definitely noticeable.
The feeling is a bit like wearing Scholl’s Party Feet but because the technology is built into the sole, it doesn’t move at all and responds better to your foot as you walk.
Although you may still feel discomfort when wearing the strappy pair for a long time, where the straps run across the foot, we definitely noticed a significant difference as soon as we put the shoe on compared to other similar heels we own. As we walked around, nothing wobbled and there was very little pressure on the balls of our feet.
We’d like to see how we felt after an hour or two to really gauge the impact of Gait-Tech’s solution, but perhaps the more important point is that we’d be more than happy to continue wearing the strappy shoes for that time. find out
We’ll have to wait and see how Gait-Tech’s technology is used to see how much of an impact it could have for heel lovers, but it’s a very promising step towards delivering a solution to make incredible shoes feel as amazing as they look.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle.
