Zero-drop, zero compromise: barefoot shoes designed in Engelskirchen, produced sustainably in Portugal

Brands on this page are headquartered or produced in [Country] — with at least 90% of their range made in Europe.

Wilding our lives with every step.

Designed in Germany – Produced in Portugal – VISIT WILDLING →

(€ = budget | €€ = mid | €€€ = premium | €€€€ = luxe) (★★★★★ = heirloom + zero-waste preorder |

Most shoes are built around fashion trends or factory convenience — not around the human foot. Wildling Shoes turns that logic upside down: their minimal designs follow the natural shape of the foot, not the other way around. The result is a shoe that feels less like footwear and more like a second skin.

Brand Intro

Wildling Shoes was founded in 2015 by Anna and Ran Yona, an Israeli-German couple based in Engelskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. After returning to Germany from Israel with their three barefoot-raised children, they found conventional shoes rigid and unnatural — so Anna started sewing soft, thin-soled shoes herself. What began as a crowdfunding project grew into a company of over 200 people. All shoes are produced in Portugal, where the brand has maintained its production partner from the very first shoe.

Inspiring Story

Anna and Ran’s children had grown up barefoot on a hillside near Haifa, Israel. When the family moved to Germany in 2013, the standard children’s shoes — stiff, heavy, moulded — felt like a kind of violence against feet shaped by freedom. Anna solved the problem the direct way: she picked up her sewing machine. That first handmade shoe sparked something far bigger than a home project. Within a few years, Wildling had built one of Europe’s most recognisable minimal footwear brands — and one of its most transparent supply chains. The wool for their Atento and Perto models travels through a fully traceable 150km loop in Portugal: from raw fleece, through washing and spinning, to the weaving mill, to the production floor where each shoe is made.

Who is this for?

You move a lot — walking, running, hiking — and you’ve started noticing that your conventional shoes work against your feet rather than with them. You want a shoe with a wide toe box that lets your toes spread naturally, a zero-drop sole that keeps your posture honest, and materials that breathe. You also care about where and how things are made. You’re not buying footwear for the brand logo — you’re buying it for what it does to your body and your conscience.

DISCLAIMER Sustainability score is subjective. InEurope.eu finds this crucial, but conducts no audits. Assessment based on publicly available information and brand feedback

The information on this blog has been presented to the brand but not yet been verified.

Every week we spotlight a new 100% European maker.
Seen a brand we should feature? Drop us a line at https://ineurope.eu/contact-us — we read every single suggestion.

Have a visit and see a huge collection of eco-friendly clothing brands.