With patented tech that absorbs impact and enhances mobility, OOFOS is trusted by some of the world’s best athletes, including female sports stars
Launched in 2011, OOFOS is the original recovery footwear brand – facilitating recovery before it was “in.”
Founded by a team of professionals and friends who had worked in the athletic footwear and running shoe industry since the 1980s, OOFOS was conceived from a gap they had identified in the market – a market filled with shoes that offered rebound and energy return.
What was missing was a shoe that could do the opposite – absorb shock, reduce pressure on the feet and joints and leave the body feeling recharged.
The team developed its proprietary OOfoam™ technology and then spent another two years engineering OOFOS’ patented footbed that biomechanically enhances mobility, minimizes fatigue-induced instability and reduces load rates, effectively shifting the paradigm of active recovery.
“OOfoam™ absorbs impact so the body doesn’t have to, allowing athletes of all levels to recover faster by giving the body-in-motion a more restful state that we call active recovery,” said OOFOS Head of Marketing Darren Brown. “The technology has been proven to absorb 37% more impact than traditional foam materials, which reduces load and stress and more effectively distributes pressure. This, combined with our patented footbed design enables more natural motion and enhances mobility and fluidity of feet and joints.”
Pro Athletes Trust OOFOS
Once the footwear hit the market, OOFOS began hearing from a wide range of athletes reporting that the shoes were having a significant impact on their performance.
This came from the likes of NFL quarterback Derek Carr, MLB All-Star J.D. Martinez, two-time USA Olympic hockey player Cayla Barnes, iconic former basketball player and NCAA Championship-winning coach Dawn Staley, former NFL quarterback Alex Smith and college softball standout Skylar Wallace. Olympic Gold Medal-winning aerial skier Ashley Caldwell is also an enthusiast of the brand.
“I was introduced to OOFOS by my little brother, who is an incredible tennis player and huge OOFOS fan,” said Caldwell. “Aerial skiing and training puts a ton of pressure on your body, especially knees, so I tried OOFOS and immediately knew that they were special. I’ve been a diligent wearer and advocate ever since.”
Upon hearing similar feedback from other athletes, OOFOS saw a chance to tell authentic stories about these athletes’ experiences with the product to support their careers and passions.
“OOFOS are a critical part of training and performance for these athletes and an important part of their lives,” noted Brown. “These inspiring and talented athletes have important stories to tell, and we found that content around female athletes really resonated with our consumers.”
The Power of OOFOS
OOFOS invested in storytelling around female athletes using long-form video, social media and blogs across all media and marketing channels and supported organizations like U.S. Ski and Snowboard, USA Gymnastics and the NWHL. The brand also partnered with USWNT soccer stars Christen Press and Tobin Heath on collaborative products with their RE – INC brand.
“This investment in deeper storytelling allowed us the privilege of introducing women like Yuma Haidara to our community. Yuma is a Navy Veteran and endurance runner, who discovered a love of running while trying to keep moving during her career as a long-haul trucker,” noted Brown.
“OOFOS products provided Yuma relief after 200-mile races, and surprisingly, even during races – when she experienced severe leg pain during a New York City marathon and turned to her OOFOS slides to help with the pounding and impact,” he adds.
“I was in so much pain after a 200-ish mile race when I finally tried on a pair of OOFOS slides. I felt like I was on clouds,” says Haidara. “The pain in my feet and joints went away instantly, I couldn’t believe it – it was magical! I didn’t even know it was possible to feel that good in a pair of shoes. I wish I tried them on sooner. Once I got my first pair, I never looked back.
Investing in Female Athletes
In March, OOFOS and Exos, the global leader in human performance, partnered for the first-ever Women’s Athlete Week Summit at Exos in Phoenix. OOFOS is the exclusive recovery footwear provider to Exos coaches and participating athletes and is an integral part of their NFL combine training program.
The Women’s Athlete Summit featured full physical and nutritional evaluations, personalized training sessions and a deep dive into women’s cycle-based training for peak performance for a select group of OOFOS athletes including professional volleyball player and hybrid athlete Carly Wopat, Caldwell, Haidara and several fitness and wellness journalists.
“Both OOFOS and Exos have unique products and experiences to offer customers and we share the same objectives – to enhance the athlete and human experience, accelerate recovery and deliver the best personal performance,” said Brown. “The Summit is the first of many initiatives we’ll do together to lift up and support both female and male athletes across the globe.”
“As an athlete, my goal is to be the best I can be,” said Wopat. “I learned so much this week at the OOFOS x Exos Women’s Athlete Summit about how I can personally take my training to the next level. And I also gained great insight by building relationships with Yuma, Ashley and the teams at OOFOS and Exos. It’s a week I will never forget.”
It’s feedback and stories like these that continue to inspire the company.
“Not all foams are created equal and our revolutionary, impact-absorbing OOfoam™ is a one-of-a-kind technology that is defining the Active Recovery category,” said Brown. “We hear stories from athletes and customers every day about how OOFOS has changed their lives and that’s truly what drives our whole team.”
