Review: Skora Form

Now that barefoot running is a full-on craze – bolstered by a growing body of research suggesting the best way to run is the way our forebears did, sans shoes – retail shelves are stacked with minimalist running gear. Any company entering the market at this point will have to do something pretty darn different to stand out.

Portland, Oregon-based footwear company Skora is giving things a shot with its Form running shoe, which will be released mid-February. All the features required to qualify as a minimalist, barefoot-inspired shoe are present here: zero heel drop, light weight (7 ounces for a size 10) and an anatomically correct footbed.

Nothing new there – until you get to the Forms' upper, which is crafted from goat leather then lined with sheep leather on the inside, making this one of the only minimalist running shoes with a fully leather upper. There's a reason we don't see it too much: leather and barefoot running, often performed sockless, don't mix well. A mile or two and you're a clammy mess, forefoot-striking your way to blisterville.

But Skora's leather is tanned using Pittards Textile's WRX100 treatment, which the company says adds permanent water resistance and allows sweat to breathe outside the leather. The treatment is also meant to prevent the leather from taking on that crunchiness that leather gets.

I'd say it works – the soft leather felt terrific as soon as the shoes went on, and the contoured footbed did a good job of hugging the sole. The wide toe box kept the shoe from encroaching on my toes. The midfoot was a bit snug for my D-width feet, though, and the leather took some time to break in and accommodate my wide dogs. Once they did, the fit was great.

My first few runs with the Forms were tentative, as the shoes' lack of cushioning and zero heel drop were immediately apparent. Barefooters rejoice, this is no "transition" shoe. It takes you right to barefoot town, where you're forced to adjust your stride or hate your life. The pod-style outsole provides solid grip and traction on wet concrete sidewalks, and the asymmetrical lacing prevents any wrinkling at the toebox.

Skora claims the Forms can be run sockless. This is a terrible thing for a shoe reviewer to hear, because it means we have to test the claim. While a seamless, no-tongue, wraparound upper and perforated leather sounded promising, I've earned many a blister debunking over-eager, loose-lipped PR reps.

Luckily, the Skoras came up aces. My feet did end up sweating in the shoe, but the perforated leather did a great job of managing the interior moisture, keeping things from getting overly clammy as I ran. The Forms' dialed-in fit kept interior movement to a minimum, and multiple sockless five- and six-mile runs led to zero blisters, a new experience for this tester.

Regarding exterior moisture, the shoes were surprisingly stubborn when running in wet conditions. It took a few miles of running through wet grass to get the shoes suitably wet. After soaking them on that morning run, I hung them up to dry in the garage. That afternoon, they were dry and the leather was as soft as ever.

If you're looking for the Bentley of barefoot running shoes, Skora's got you covered. The Forms feel like a luxury version of the barefoot shoe, with their lush leather adding some class to the barefoot game.

WIRED Leather feels great and gets softer the more it's worn. Zero heel drop, a shoe for the serious runner.

TIRED Pricey at $195. Low-profile tread gets slippery on wet trails. Leather takes time to adjust to wider feet.

Photos courtesy of Skora, Inc.