Should we all be wearing barefoot shoes? I put 15 pairs to the test – here are my favourites

Shoegazing … barefoot shoes have a ‘thin sole, a wider toe box and greater flexibility than traditional shoes’. Photograph: Tom Bruce/The Guardian

As fitness trends go, barefoot shoes have been around long enough to rule them out as a fad. However, for the uninitiated, what is a “barefoot” shoe?

They’re a minimalist type of footwear that mimics being barefoot. They have a thin sole, a wide toe box and greater flexibility than traditional shoes. Another key feature is the zero-drop sole, which means there’s no change in the height of the shoe from the heel to the toe.