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Podiatric Surgeon Joan Oloff Launches a Movement With New Shoe Collection: By Women, For Women

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Published
03/14/2016 by

Inspired by Victoria Beckham's recent announcement that she can no longer wear her signature sky-high heels, California and New York-based podiatric surgeon Joan Oloff has decided it's time to start a true footwear movement for women, where the long held belief in "fashion over function" is replaced by a newfound belief in "fashion with function", and it's been a long time coming.  In 2013, she founded Joan Oloff Shoes, a brand built upon the simple desire to improve women's lives and save their feet. Ever the perfectionist, it took her until 2015 to perfect her patent-pending heel technology that is now giving women the chance to live the life they want while wearing the high heels they love.

Dr. Oloff may not be the first person to have spoken out about the idea that women don't have to suffer for style, but she's certainly the most experienced. In fact, she's been surrounded by feet and footwear her entire life, having spent her formative years working in her father's shoe store before following her own path and becoming a renowned podiatrist and podiatric surgeon.  As a doctor, Joan Oloff has treated countless women and an exceptional number of professional female athletes, whose careers and livelihoods are very much dependent on the state of their feet. 

Christian Louboutin is famous for saying, "High heels are pleasure with pain," and Dr. Oloff has spent many frustrating years trying to dissuade and reteach her patients that this idea is simply not true—style  does not equal pain, pain is a product of what you've been wearing on your feet.  Not only that, pain is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong, and you should heed the warning. "Had Victoria Beckham known 15 years ago that her sky-high heels were causing long-term damage, would she have stopped wearing them?" asks Dr. Oloff, "Women are becoming more mindful in all areas of their lives but no one is thinking about the alternatives when it comes to their footwear."  All of the torture and damage being inflicted on her patients' feet is what led to Dr. Oloff's light bulb moment of realization that women are always going to choose style over comfort.  Rather than lecture her clients with advice they will not heed, she decided to rise to the challenge and design a high-heeled solution that would satisfy both her patients' style needs, as well as her own medical advice.

Ultimately, Dr. Oloff has designed a high fashion luxury shoe that is constructed in such a way that it can accommodate the structure and function of the human foot and ankle, while still maintaining the delicate and beautiful lines of a high-heeled shoe.  Dr. Oloff's patent pending heel technology is so much more than just an "extra padded" insole--it's a combination of unique features, most of which are not visible to the human eye, that create an orthotic effect and are certainly felt once the shoes are worn.  These unique features offload the pressure points in the ball of the foot, redistribute weight so that the entire foot shares the load of the body, support the arch and metatarsal bones, and include a shock absorbing material that will not fail over time. This technology is based on structural changes that have been unseen in the footwear industry until now. 

The result: an elegant, innovative, high fashion shoe, handmade in Italy with fine Italian leather that just happens to feel like a traditional comfort shoe. Gone are the days of simply adding extra padding and calling it comfort, as Dr. Oloff looks to revolutionize the entire industry.

"The ruining of women's feet by heels has been a dirty little secret in an industry designed primarily by men," says Dr. Oloff. "The secret is now being exposed thanks to celebrities like Victoria Beckham, and we need to show the world there is an opportunity for a solution.  But it takes commitment from the women to stand up, and join us on the journey to save their feet.  You were born to move, and it's time to find heels that will move with you!"

With her AW16 collection, Dr. Oloff will be launching the final iteration of her patent pending technology along with a custom designed heel that will provide the illusion of delicacy, while offering a strong, stable foundation for the body. No other shoe on the market combines all of the elements of a Joan Oloff Shoe.

For anyone seeking to join the Joan Oloff movement, the latest SS16 collection is now available on the Joan Oloff website and through select boutique retailers internationally.

To learn more about Joan Oloff, please visit: www.joanoloffshoes.com.

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