Chad Little : Co-Founder
When Chad was growing up, the basketball court was his second home. Raised in the beautiful Pacific NW, he had a lot of influence from the Portland Trailblazers, Seattle Supersonics and most notably Michael Jordan. He followed a path as a JuCo basketball player; wear testing as many different performance basketball shoes that he could get his hands on for over 20 years.
In 2002, his friendship with a local podiatrist had him questioning the design, construction and shapes of his basketball shoes that were destroying his feet. In 2003, he began a path to influence healthier athletic footwear through San Jose State’s industrial design program. He worked numerous footwear design internships over the years that led to footwear design jobs with companies like Nike, Jordan Brand, Pony, Montrail, Kickz, & ACI. His product creations have been worn by professional athletes for years and his time spent in Nike’s innovation space only fueled his passion for more athlete focused healthy footwear. He realized the big shoe company industry needed a change, and it wasn’t going to come from within the corporate environment.
In 2018, he began to work from home; teaching himself how to make custom fit shoes. In 2021, the team added Jared Fiorovich. They began working with 3D printers to produce their own custom lasts, insoles, midsoles, outsoles and other foot healthy accessories.
Now, At 41 years old, Chad has regained his natural foot strength by going predominantly barefoot (or minimal footwear) for the last 5 years. Being able to play basketball now in custom fit / minimal footwear has been a huge benefit & Always working on the next iteration.
Jared Fiorovich : Co-Founder
A master of pattern making and shoe construction, (And a pro level skate boarder). Jared’s methods for simplifying shoe construction were meticulously learned through dedication to the craft while being a sample shoe maker for Pensole School in Portland, OR : 2015-18. His passion to solve problems with any tools possible helps him deliver extraordinary footwear to many different categories including; fashion, cleated, skate, casual, and many other bespoke models. His shared passion for healthy footwear has been on the top of his priority list too. There’s a need for healthier skate shoes that perform naturally with your feet and offer just enough impact protection engineered for each individual.
New prototypes currently in progress…
At the end of 2020 Chad does a podcast with Nick St. Louis @thefootcollective and discusses the future of athletic footwear needing to be more foot & data informed. Code Footwear launches out of Chad’s basement/garage in 2021. While the company still exists in it’s original location, we soon plan to expand space where more like-minded individuals can help build the future craft of healthy athletic footwear.
A DEEPER DIVE INTO OUR STORY…
You are born with perfect feet; we want to keep them that way.
Today’s athletes have no other option than to buy shoes that weren’t made for their body. From kids, to elite level athletes; everyone is looking for something that feels like it was made for them. Code Footwear will be the first athletic company to truly provide an unfair advantage of a custom fit, handmade pair of shoes (or cleats) engineered for your specific needs. There is not a manufacturer in the world that will focus on the health of each individual’s athletic potential like we will.
All sports which require shoes in need of specific traction under foot; soccer, baseball, football, rugby, basketball, volleyball, tennis, etc. are made by big companies that mass produce 1-size-fits-all shapes that weren’t made for you. Other factors that contribute to declining foot health: over-cushioned, heel elevation, too stiff & too narrow.
We should never adjust our body to the shoes that we buy. We get weakened feet, worse balance, and deformed toes the longer we put forces against shoes that don’t properly fit & function for us. This leads to more pain and suffering for our ankles, knees, hips and back: when these areas take up more load forces than they were intended to.
In order for your body to compete at high levels, your base foundation needs to be strong. Weak feet are not an option. We encourage everyone to go barefoot as much as possible. When your toes are back to their natural alignment, and your foot begins to use those tiny intrinsic muscles again, they will strengthen in line with the rest of your body. We want your feet to work naturally and efficiently to distribute the pressure of landing and launching-actions not mimicked when cushioned and stabilized by a traditional shoe.
The co-founders of CODE have experienced firsthand the effects of big brand footwear. This led to many non-contact injuries, sidelining us for years from the joy of competition and limiting our athletic potential. And it’s not just us. Many athletes are destroying their health at alarming rates with big name athletic brands. The rise of non-contact injuries along with an epidemic of hip and knee replacement projections over the coming years is no coincidence.
OUR GOAL is to help athletes strengthen their feet over time. We want everyone to be able to play longer; More joy, less pain. There’s a lack of footwear/health education out there for parents, athletes, coaches and trainers. They need to understand the effects of wearing mass produced shoes and we hope to be a reliable source of truth from our time and experiences.
When it comes to athletics, we are marketed to fit in with our peers and wear Nike, Adidas, etc. so we can look and feel like our favorite athletes on TV. Unfortunately your favorite athlete probably has unhealthy feet because of the shoes that they’ve worn for so long! Our footwear knowledge with all types of athletes has shown time and again that they deserve a better option than what is available on the market.
Co founders Chad & Jared have personally invested in solving this issue with over 30 years combined experience.
When Jared was 17 he had his first of many ankle surgeries due to skating injuries. The lack of healthy footwear options had him modifying his own shoes since before he was a teenager. Now, he handcrafts custom footwear made for high level performance. His attention to fit, function and style have lead him to positions making footwear for athletes all across the world.
Chad began a career in footwear at San Jose State University’s Industrial Design program in 2003 after 2 years of college basketball. His passion for athletic shoes and desire to do it better began over 20 years ago with an internship at a local podiatrist office in Portland, Oregon. While there, Chad learned firsthand the major impact of footwear on athletes. He later worked with 4 other athletic shoe companies from Portland to Munich before being recruited to design at Nike’s world campus for Jordan brand. He later got invited to work within Nike’s footwear innovation team. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to help elite level athletes get the sensation of custom made footwear. Sadly, this was not a path they invested in.
in 2016, Chad left Nike with a feeling that he could just do it better and someday help people out with custom footwear needs. Today, we’re on a path to find a healthy athletic footwear solution for the masses. Although our current offerings are bespoke, we plan to find patterns that simplify our process and bring affordable healthier athletic options to market. Trust the process; it’s happening.
The real design work has already taken place though. The foot is an incredible design. It knows how to propel itself through landing and take-off. It knows how to cushion blows. It knows what to do. We are creating footwear that puts the foot back in charge.