About Us

Mission
 
Zoolios designs innovative footwear to help you find healthy adventure in the great outdoors.
Team
 

"With modern materials and properties we have the ability to create unique solutions."

Alejandro Angulo is an industrial designer with more than 15 years of sport footwear design including Crocs, Reebok, Merrell, Timberland, Quiksilver, DC Shoes, Pony, and FILA. "I am fascinated as I designer how we can keep adding very subtle mechanical improvements into a footwear piece, until we have something that the user doesn't even think about: the shoe just works. I enjoy working on these improvements until we have total elegance. With modern materials and properties, more and more we have the ability to create unique solutions." An avid hiker and fútbol junkie, Alejandro resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 

"We want life healthy and simple, from the feet up."

  
Kent Kyle started in the family's fashion and apparel import business at 17 years old. "While my friends were partying, I was unpacking containers, faxing China all night, and just hustling in the NYC Garment District." Years later, he was drawn back to the industry. "I love to hike, paddle, you name it. But I saw outdoor activities becoming hyped as exclusive and elitist, just Instagram-ready body types and former pros selling expensive gear. Total bull--and totally intimidating. We want footwear so useful, so safe, so convenient, everyone is empowered to go outside and try something new. We want life healthy and simple, from the feet up." Kent currently holds six allowed and pending footwear patents with the USPTO and other regions, and paddles around a lot in sketchy backwaters of Florida, USA.
           

"The most important thing is to find the right fit for your own body."

  
Dr. José Luis Kim is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in Foot & Ankle surgery and Sports Medicine at the Clínica Bíblica Hospital Medical Center. His area of focus is on minimally invasive and traditional surgeries of the ankle, foot, and knee, with a particular interest in the treatment of athletic ankle injuries. José Luis is an active member of the Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos. "I see injuries all the time actually caused from poor footwear. They may have features that prohibit natural function and can actually harm you, your feet, your knees, your spine, everything. The most important thing is to find the right fit for your own body, understanding the stresses of the activity. I am happy to see that the input of the medical industry is finally gaining a stronger voice." Before becoming serious, José Luis was an almost famous second division soccer player, but now is just a Monstruo Morado fan in San José, CR.
What's a Zoolios?

 

 

First, a very long history lesson

The Calusa were a fierce, independent native American society flourishing in Southwest Florida after conquering the local Archaic and Muspa nations.

The Calusa canoed, sailed, fished, hunted and shelled, building a powerful and stratified society without the use of large-scale agricultural. Shell islands and complex water berms for aquaculture were blended with existing coastal formations maximize food production without overuse of resources. The Calusa used organic and sustainable materials such as wood, palm-fiber and coral for their tools, fishing nets, homes, and minimalist clothing. Attire was basic such as deerskin breeches, Spanish Moss as skirts and simple sandals of palm-fiber thong, if not barefoot.

Repeated attempts to subjugate the Calusa were met with swift and efficient retaliation by their painted warriors, described as notably tall and strong, in their famed war canoes. Never conquered by the European invaders, nor converted, nevertheless the proud Calusa slowly diminished in population from severe disease and resource displacement. In the early 1700's, the last remnants of the Calusa were attacked by Creek raiders, until the surviving populations fled to Cuba (to perish) or became absorbed by the incoming Seminole and Miccosukee.

The Calusa leave behind a legacy of fierceness, of living harmoniously with their environment, of respect for the gods and water, and an enduring and adventurous spirit that we seek to embody.

Caalius (also Calus, Caalus) was the name of their charismatic leader in the mid 1500's. His power stretched from modern day Tampa down to the Keys, circling up to Miami. It is said his royal home, built on wooden pillars and surrounded by the sea, could hold 2,000 visitors. Until his execution by the Spanish, Caalius fended off the Spanish, the French, and waves of missionaries for at least 30 years.

Caalius was often altered to "Carlos" with the assumed hard k pronunciation, but most likely a linguistic castilianization from King Carlos of Spain. A suggested phonetic correction of Caalius, using the pre-palatal consonant ś instead of the hard k, supported by related Tunica phonetics, gives us a possible genuine pronunciation of Caalius: Śoo/lyos.

Zoolios

Out of respect and admiration for the great leader Caalius, and inspired by the Calusa's unique approach to minimalist lifestyle and footwear, the Zoolios revolution is born.

As modern adventurers on the very same rivers, beaches, estuaries and mounds inhabited by the Calusa, we pay homage to these great people by enjoying and protecting our inherited waterways.

We hope you too may find adventure in your own sacred waterways and natural retreats. Go outside, be healthy, and tread lightly in minimalist footwear from Zoolios.

Everyone has a right to healthy adventure in the great outdoors.

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