The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Manel Garcia Prats, Co-Founder of OHNE PROJECT / Barefoot Sneakers
•Menswear Style •Episode 218
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In this episode of the Menswear Style Podcast, we speak with Manel Garcia Prats, co-founder of OHNE PROJECT, the Spanish footwear brand challenging the conventional shape of the modern trainer with its stylish take on barefoot design.
The idea for OHNE PROJECT began when Manel and his partner were researching footwear for their young children. Learning about shoes designed to respect the natural shape and biomechanics of developing feet led them to a bigger question: if this approach is considered beneficial for children, why do adults so often spend their lives forcing their feet into narrow, rigid shoes?
That question ultimately became the foundation for OHNE PROJECT.
Manel explains the philosophy behind the brand, including the belief that shoes should be designed around the natural shape of the foot rather than forcing the foot to conform to the shape of the shoe. OHNE PROJECT’s first model, the Project 080, combines the core characteristics of barefoot footwear with a design inspired by iconic 1980s sneakers.
We explore what makes a barefoot shoe different, from its wide toe box and zero-drop construction to its thin, lightweight and highly flexible sole. Manel demonstrates just how flexible the shoes are, explaining why allowing the foot to move naturally can help it perform more like it would when walking barefoot.
The conversation also gets into the wider implications of conventional footwear, including the way narrow toe boxes and elevated heels can alter how we distribute weight through our feet and potentially affect the alignment and movement of other parts of the body.
Manel is careful to stress that he isn't a medical professional and that individual needs can vary, but he explains the basic philosophy behind barefoot footwear and why OHNE PROJECT believes people should allow their feet to function as naturally as possible.
We also discuss the important concept of transitioning gradually into barefoot footwear. After years of wearing rigid shoes, the muscles in the feet may need time to adapt to greater movement and load — making the transition itself an important part of the process.
For Manel, however, the biggest obstacle facing barefoot footwear isn't necessarily the concept. It's the way many barefoot shoes look.
As a former sneaker collector and someone who studied footwear design, he saw a clear opportunity to create a shoe that delivers the functional benefits of barefoot construction without immediately looking like one. The result is a retro-inspired trainer that could comfortably sit alongside conventional sneakers in someone's wardrobe.
We delve into Manel's background in engineering, footwear design and sneaker culture, as well as the challenges of developing OHNE PROJECT in Spain. The shoes are manufactured near Elche, one of the country's major footwear-producing regions, allowing Manel to remain closely involved with the production process while maintaining a strong connection to local manufacturing.
The conversation also touches on the realities of building a small footwear brand, including the additional costs of manufacturing in Europe, international shipping, returns, customs and finding a price point that works for customers in markets such as the UK and US.
Finally, Manel explains the audience OHNE PROJECT is trying to reach: both existing barefoot enthusiasts who want something more stylish and people who understand the potential benefits of barefoot footwear but have previously been put off by the aesthetic.
A fascinating conversation about footwear design, biomechanics, sneaker culture, Spanish manufacturing and the growing movement towards allowing our feet to move the way nature intended.
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Men's Wear Style Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Brooker. Today on the show I'm talking to Manel Garcia. He is the co-founder of Honor Project. Honor have created the most unique barefoot shoe inspired by the 80s and their iconic designs. The Project 080 is a sneaker made from plants that look like regular shoes but have all the benefits of a barefoot shoe. Wide toe box, thin, light, and flexible sole and zero drop. You can find out more about Honor Project by going to the website honorproject.com, ohne project.com. We'll put all the links and notes over on menswearstyle.co.uk, but for now to tell you all about the brand, the co-founder himself, Manel Garcia.
SPEAKER_03
So we have two kids. One of them is already almost four years old, and like two years almost three years old when uh three years ago when he started walking. Uh, you start having all these you need you start some research of which kind of shoes kids should you should wear, right? And they say, yeah, you need a shoe that it's very like the word is respectful in Spanish, is um respetuoso, which is uh yeah, respectful with the shape and the all the biomechanics of the foot, of the feet of the kids, so that they can develop well the feet as if they walk barefoot, right? So and with that, I was like, oh what is this? And I start started, we started me and my partner uh looking for information about it. And in the end, we ended up saying, um, why adults don't wear this this uh footwear? What is it with this foodwear? Why it at some point in your development, when you're 10, when you're 11, you start wearing shoes that are not meant to be with our feet. That actually we have a quote saying like shoot uh shoes should be designed to feed feet and not feet should uh go into shoe shapes. So we we had we had a different we had a foot shape or a shoe shape, and should be actually shoes should be designed to feed our feet, not the other way around. And um so yeah, we started going through and we saw that yeah, there was a problem in our opinion, and I think we are now seeing that people agree with that, that sometimes barefoot shoes have a different look, and and and you can see very quickly that is a barefoot shoe, and that was exactly what uh could pull us a bit out of the buying this kind of of foodwear. And so we decided, well, we need to do something about it. I think it's a good moment because this this um thing of barefoot shoe or barefoot, uh, it was like a topic kind of like growing more, and we see more people talking about it. I don't know it's because if it's because we also have kids and all the friends have kids, but it's a it's a topic that we hear more and more and uh in a health uh perspective, too. So we said, okay, we need to design a shoe that has all the properties of a barefoot shoe, but looks doesn't look like a barefoot shoe in in the sense of trying to make a minimalist shoe the least minimalist in uh in a design.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. I mean, so I've I'm glad that you said that in a way because I've had some barefoot shoes in my time. We've had someone on the on the podcast also to talk about their brand of barefoot shoe. And I don't want to uh I don't want to talk out of school with these guys, but I would say I was surprised going onto your website earlier looking at your shoes. I was like, oh, it just looks like a regular trainer in terms of design. It looks like a cool retro tennis chainer that uh that I might have seen in the 80s, which is you know really is in my wheelhouse, and it was something that with the other barefoot shoes that I had, uh they just didn't look like the sort of trainer I would naturally go to. I wouldn't be attracted to those sort of trainers naturally. So I was genuinely surprised to see your shoes and see how and that they have all the properties in them still. So, how did you achieve that?
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, so so I mean, um my partner is we we didn't we uh were like just um doing social media in the last years, but so just uh as a background, I'm I'm engineer, which I've never worked as an engineer because I didn't like when I started when I finished my studies. Um my partner is uh textile engineer. Um and then when I start when I finished my studies, I I did some shoe design master, but it's not the master, but it was like a uh one-year studies, and so it was kind of like yeah, it could be the moment to try to put all together, you know, all what we learn, what we like. I was a sneaker freaker back in the 2010s collecting all limited edition shoes. So I had I had uh in my hands a lot of very cool limited collaboration and um shoes. I still have some, but I don't use them. So it's so stupid in one uh thinking about it because I I cannot wear them anymore, like they are too tight. So yeah, we we we started designing and we kind of found um the way to make it look less uh barefoot in the sense of design look. And yeah, so we we try to find that it's actually a barefoot shoe in in uh in a character like the main characteristic should be thin and flexible, so so that you can actually feel the ground and that your your feet can uh work. This is our shoe, like I don't know if if it's recording, but so that it's very flexible.
SPEAKER_01
Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_03
So for the listeners, you know, so that that's the idea that that in a in a barefoot shoe that you can actually fold it and it almost fits in your hand, you know, so that your your feet can work while walking. Because what happens normally is when you have a very steep shoe, the shoe doesn't bend, so your ankle don't work, your feet, it's just almost in a cast.
SPEAKER_01
That's interesting. Yeah, so Manel not only sorry, just for our listeners, Manel's just got one of his um trainers up there, the owner trainers, and he's basically folding it in half, almost like you could just fold it in half like a tennis ball.
SPEAKER_03
Almost you can yeah, or twist it in all directions so that your your your foot is actually uh working while you walk, almost like a barefoot, like barefoot. Then the second, and I think even most important is the the toe box, it needs to be wide, needs to be enough space for our our toes to to splay so that you can have movement and you are not constricted into a shape, because that's what mostly causes bunions, hammer toes, and all these problems that we have nowadays. So the genetics are a very little part of what we are told about these banyons, it's more like a physics thing. If you put a your feet in a small shoe, it your feet just gets into the shape, you know, and that's why women have more problems because you on top of that put gravity, you put a heel, so it goes even with more strength into the into the uh toe box, narrow toe box. Yeah, so this is actually yeah, thin, flexible sole, uh toe bolt, and then it needs to be completely flat, it needs to be what we call zero drop, so that the height from the heel to the toes is the same one, so you don't have a uh a heel because this also causes a lot of uh misalignments in your in your back, in your joints. This causes all problems. Like you you are born barefoot to walk barefoot, your feet have all the properties to walk barefoot, and uh the shoe should be just maybe a protection for the cold, for the for the ground, but it shouldn't interfere in your biomechanics, which is what happens with shoes nowadays.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, you know what's crazy? I actually have a pair of trainers that because you mentioned about trainers being too tight. I bought a pair of trainers when I was in Florence and I loved them. They were blue suede, they're just a little bit tight when I put them on. And I fell for the classic line in every shoe shop where they go, Well, you know, it takes a bit of wear. Once you've had them aware a few miles, then it'll mold to your foot. Don't ever believe that. Don't ever believe that, people, because unless it's proper leather, and then it might it might just expand over time. But this it's like a suede trainer, it's not gonna move, and you're only gonna be just slightly a little bit more comfortable. I'm still really uncomfortable in these tight ass trainers, but I've refused to just shelve them or put them on eBay because I thought, right, I've got to wear them to get my money's worth because I'm cheap and I hate waste. So I'm willing to destroy my feet to just get my money's worth out of these trainers. Whereas I feel like if people just get the right trainer to begin with, then uh they'll be on the straight and narrow.
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, what is the point to buy tied shoes? Like, what why do you need to be uncomfortable and actually hurting your feet?
SPEAKER_01
It's that classic salesman line that I mean. I used to do it as well because I worked in an independent fashion shop. And when someone would try a trainer on, and then they go, Oh, it's a little tight, and then the other one's a bit too big, and then they go back to the tight one. I'm like, well, you know, you know, you'll you'll grow into it, you know, just a few wears.
SPEAKER_03
And it looks good, it looks, it looks good. I don't know why we have this uh steel inside. I also love to wear tight shoes, even half size smaller, because I I looked how my feet looked in a a smaller shoe, and now it's the opposite. Well, and uh actually, there is yeah, a lot of things uh happening after you start wearing barefoot shoes and you go much more barefoot, your feet actually grows. It's it's incredible.
SPEAKER_01
Well, so yeah, talk about some of the benefits outside of your feet growing. What does it do to your overall body, your knees, your joints, your posture? Is there any research on that?
SPEAKER_03
Uh I'm not a professional in that, so uh I don't want to talk and say you should do that, you should do this is the uh 100% benefits, uh, because every person and every case could be different, and there's people indeed for anything, they might need some other stuff, or but but in general, orthotics. What it for what I believe is more like a medicine, it's just uh covering something, but not actually solving something, you know. Maybe you need some work to increase your strength in your feet, and that's why you had whatever problem you had, or so it there is benefits because it it just makes sense. I I and and at some things uh doesn't there is an explanation, but for me it makes sense. You're you're born barefoot, you should walk barefoot and you shouldn't have problems for walking barefoot. So if you wear a shoe that makes it the most similar to walking barefoot, it will have the most benefits in your whole body. Because when you what I said, when you're starting um changing the biomechanics of your feet, you are changing many things from like you're actually you're actually changing your most your your base of the body where all your weight goes in on. So if you start putting into into narrow shoes, so normally what a foot should be, you should wear it's like a tripod. So you have the heel, then your big toe is very important, and when we put it inside in a tight shoe, we are making like it's like a tripod, you know. So it's like this. So in the moment you are putting your toes two together, you are changing into a almost two points, so your feet is completely unstable, and this changes on your ankles, on your hips, on your knees. And for example, when you put a heel, you are putting much more pressure in your in your in your um knees, for example, and you are immediately like it's it's it's pretty it's pretty straightforward. If you put a tower like this and you put something in the back, it would fall. So your body needs to compensate all the things that you are putting on your on your feet. So if you put a heel, and that's why women, when they wear uh heels, it's kind of like it styles more their body because it makes them make this shape, you know, yeah, on the back. But this is actually not good because it's your body trying to compensate something so that you don't fall forward.
SPEAKER_01
It's interesting. I mean, I spoke to my girlfriend about I'm always fascinated why women wear heels. I've it's one of these things that kind of boggles me. I used to live in a flat in Essex that was at the end of a high street, and I'd lean out my window at the end of a Saturday night and I would see the women leave the clubs and the pubs. And as soon as they're kind of at the end of the high street, they're out of view, they take their high heels off, right? Because it's killing them. And I I would I could just call it like clockwork, I'd be like, three, two, one, off come the heels, and they're like, Oh, thank fuck. And then they walk home barefoot with their heels in their hand, walking over glass and stuff. So it's crazy. But I asked Anastasia, my girlfriend, I said, What why do you put yourself through this? Is it just to be taller? And she goes, No, it's nothing to do with height, it's to make your legs look thinner. So if you uh if you're flat footed, like if you're not wearing heels, your legs kind of look a little bit, I guess, wider, just naturally. So they're lofted.
SPEAKER_03
Your your heaps go to the front, kind of like a line, but when you put heels, your your hip goes kind of to the back, like putting your bat out, and that's why it styles more the women's body in general.
SPEAKER_01
But it's all for us, it's all for us guys. Like if look, if it was just women roaming around the planet, if women were just roaming around the planet, they wouldn't be wearing high heels, just because it's dudes around, they go.
SPEAKER_03
It's something that it was on in the past and needs to kind of like change, I think. Anyway, um it's fashion, it's fashion, it's fashion, it's uh something, and on top of that, uh going back to the benefits is your muscles in your feet. So, what I said before, when you put into a very rigid sole and in a tight shoe, it's like a cast. It's like when you have a cast on your arm, your your muscles completely disappear. So when you take out this cast, you need to work on the muscles so that they gain a back again. So for the feet, it's the same. Uh so when you are used to wear regular shoe and then you go to a barefoot shoe, you need a what they call a transition time because of this, because your feet are not used to uh walk uh barefoot, and that's why in Spain, I don't know if in England it has the same, but in summer, then they start always in the news like be careful with uh wearing flip-flops or wearing this because this can be bad for your feet, or don't go so much time barefoot because this go could be bad for you, but it's it's not about this, it's because of course you have been 11 months into shoes that are cast, like, and then you take them out in summer, and then of course your body is not used to, and some people it's like, Oh, I have a bit of low back pain because I'm wearing I'm walking barefoot. It's like, no, normally it's because you have been wearing heels all the time, then of course you have back pain for some time until your body actually could readjust to walk how you should, that it's uh barefoot.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. So, two things on that. I mentioned that women only wear heels for men, not entirely true. Uh, sorry, I'll let me dial that back a little or or pedal that back. Women wear high heels in the workplace like they did in the 80s and started wearing suits so that they could compete with their contemporaries, right? They're bosses, they're corporates. They didn't want to be left out of the workplace, so they brought the heels in for a bit of height and they brought the shoulder pads in just so that they could look a little bit more threatening. Um, second point, men shouldn't be wearing flip-flops full stop, right? I just had no idea why guys go out in flip-flops. And let me tell you why, guys. Let me tell you why. If you ever get into a fight, all of your power comes from your feet. If you throw a punch, all of the power, it's not in your biceps, it's all coming from your feet. It's how about you plant your feet in the ground? That's where your strength comes from and when you swing with your hips. You watch any great boxer, any great boxer, you'll you'll know that it's not anything to do with his biceps or how strong it is. Look at his footwork, look how he arcs himself into the punch, look how he twists the back. Yeah. And so when you have uh when you have flip-flops on, you have zero grip, your punches will mean crap. So whenever I get into any kind of bites by people to by the pool side, I'm like, bring it up, it's fine. I don't know, I'm gonna absolutely waste this guy. And then he heads butt me and and it's game over. Anyway, I digress. But the um that is that does lead me on to something though. When you're are your trainers uh or is the barefoot movement being embraced by more people in the sporting industry now, like professional running and you know, even boxing, like we spoke about if if you think more people is uh uh wearing them? I'm asking you, uh is the is the Viv is um sorry, is a barefoot technology, is it really coming in now into the sports industry?
SPEAKER_03
Actually, barefoot should like it's like uh there is one brand actually that that this is like saying like you are the technology, your feet is the technology, you don't need all the technology, like your your your feet it's so capable to do anything, like your your ankles, your your arch is just a spring for jumping, for running, uh your ankle is for like absorption, and we are uh giving the shoes all our kind of capabilities to do them for us, and this also gives us other problems on the on on other parts of our body. But what I'm seeing and what I believe, I I see I see football players and runners and other people uh actually using barefoot shoes and training barefoot and this, but at the same time wearing the typical footwear for their sport. And I don't think that's wrong because I I believe shoes can be tools. Like I understand that uh uh a shoe like a carbon fiber sole shoe for running marathons can give you is it's a tool to run faster and to run to run longer. Is it is it uh fair? I don't know, because we are giving the new runners uh more easy things, like easy tools to run faster and run longer, but we shouldn't put this technology, technology between brackets, uh, this kind of uh running shoes for a daily use because they are running shoes, they are for running, but it's not good for your body. As as a diet to be a um uh bodybuilder, it will make you very strong, but it's not the healthiest diet. Uh, a shoe that it's for a purpose uh shouldn't be a shoe for a daily, like you are not gonna use climbing shoes on a daily basis. They are meant for climbing, they put you in a very little space so that your food is like a hook. Or I don't know, you can say like any kind of shoe that it's designed for sport, like clits or for uh football. I mean, there is now some brands that do barefoot clits. I don't know if this is actually ideal. I mean, at some point, yes, but also if your feet is inside and has too much space, like for changing directions, can be uncomfortable. But I I understand the purpose of some shoes. Like they are for a purpose, but we shouldn't put these shoes into our main wearing time. Like if you wear the shoes 10 hours a day and you work out one hour, it's good. Wear barefoot shoes during the day and work out with your I don't know, crossfeed shoes that have a special protection here for climbing the rope or your your football. But don't put afterwards like another shoe that tightens your feet. So I I understand shoes can be a tool.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting.
SPEAKER_03
And yeah, so I see uh people that do sport into like wearing uh barefoot shoes and and training barefoot in some things, but of course, when they do their sport, they kind of need to use the their special um shoes as a tool.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. I want to also talk about your collection because you you mentioned it a while back. You got well A, you must have um limited space now because you said that you got a couple of kids. So you I imagine yeah, everything is now a fight for real estate inside your place. Um, have you had to supervise some of the collection? Has some of it had to go or in storage?
SPEAKER_03
Actually, I have to say, like already before the barefoot uh thing, I sold almost all my collection because yeah, almost uh eight years ago I became uh um vegan, and so most of my shoes were leather. And uh I already sold them, and yeah, it was like I was moving around, like I moved to from three houses different, and every time it was like come on, like 200 pairs of shoes, like putting it like three times in the car, and it was a bit like oh no, I cannot do this, and now I have I don't know. I I still have a lot of shoes for maybe a person, a normal person, but like that say I have like three pairs now. Maybe I have I don't know 20 pairs of shoes still. Pretty good, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I'm not using them. Uh I no, maybe not, no. I I'm lying, maybe 10, 10 or 12. I I would need to check. I mean, of course, now I have a lot of samples of our shoes in the house, so and then you can see them here. I have also some samples. Oh yeah, but actually, the shoes, actually, no, much, much less. Um, maybe like 10-12 pairs of this old collection.
SPEAKER_01
And what about the class? You mentioned also that you were studying, you did a master's in this. Yeah, popular class where you are in Spain, or is it like just four or five of you in a class? Like, how how does it work?
SPEAKER_03
No, it was a design school, and and I was just so interested in in sneakers, and at that time when I was collecting, I was like, oh, I would love to be a sneaker designer. And then I I went into design shoes. So I learned about the pattern, uh, how to create the last, how the materials, and how to create a little bit the all the yeah, all the things on the shoe. And now it's kind of like I kind of relearned it because it was many years ago, and now I'm more into the I went to the factory to check, and I'm like uh learning much more into how to create the shoe, you know, to make it trees in Barcelona. It's in uh in ball close to Valencia in Elche. It's a very big area that is very famous in Spain for uh foodwear.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. It's good to be right on the doorstep of it. Well, relative to it.
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's it's it's great. I I love, of course, this is uh a thing that made our price to be a bit higher than what we would love, because of course the manufacturing and everything in Spain is much more expensive than probably in Asia. But yeah, I I love the this local um manufacturing locally and and being able to drive down to the factory and and see the production, see the samples, all these things. Amazing.
SPEAKER_01
And but we ship to the UK, right? And to the US, yeah. Yeah, great. And I saw it on the website, it looked about 140 quid-ish for a pair of trainers. Yeah, what are we looking for with postage on top of that delivery? Say, like because we've got quite a obviously we're based in the UK, but we have a lot of US listeners as well.
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, I'm trying we are trying to make it the best for exporting, because also when you export, it's always more complicated. Is the taxes and so we're trying to see what could be a good balance for for the for the shipping. Also, we had so many problems already with uh returns and exchanges because then the the client, like the customer send it back to us, then it gets stuff in the customs for us. So this was a bit um annoying, not for the shippings, but for the for the returns was uh was a bit uncomfortable for for for us. But uh for the rest, I think people is getting uh is very happy, and this is the feedback that we are having uh for the shoes. Because yeah, the shoes are like we we kind of took uh the range of people that was already in the barefoot community and wanted something a bit more, I would say, stylish or different than what we have in the market, but also there is a lot of people there in the fans, you know, they know what is barefoot, but they know the benefits that could have, but they don't do it because uh they don't like what how they look, and that was a bit our our project, like how how how we thought about the project.
SPEAKER_01
Well, mission successful, Manel, I would say. It looks great. Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing some pairs at some point in the future. Um, in the meantime, people can go to the website that's honoraproject ohne projectyep.com. Uh we'll put all the links in the show notes so people can follow you guys there and on Instagram as well. Um, but in the meantime, great talking to you. Mucho gracias, mi amigo um andala. You're welcome. 18 days straight on Duolingo, and I managed to get that in. There you go. Okay. And um, I'll speak to you soon.
SPEAKER_03
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00
If you've been listening to the Menswear Style podcast, be sure to head over to menswarestyle.co.uk for more menswear content. And email info at menswearstyle.co.uk if you would like to be a future guest on the show. And finally, please help support the show by leaving a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to this podcast. Until next time.
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