Merrell Bare Steps started as a passion project for the team. We combined our experience and expertise designing footwear for early walkers with the brand DNA of Merrell (laddering up to adults’ highly successful global Barefoot franchise). The result was the perfect product solution for Merrell consumers with small children.

We used everything we had learned in prior gait studies to engineer the perfect last and tooling as a foundation for this collection, starting from the inside out with a wide toe box, generous instep, rounded heel/feather edge, and zero drop height. With a versatile outdoor aesthetic, easy closures, and sustainability features important to our target consumer, Merrell Bare Steps has been a continually growing franchise since its launch and 100% incremental business.

Click the button for a short promo video created to highlight the features and benefits of this collection.