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Outside Magazine April 2003

REVIEW: FOOTWEAR FOR THE ACTIVE LIFE
Outside Style


	Photograph by Nigel Cox

WALK ON Shoe designers, steadily blurring the distinctions between athletic performance and presentable style, are borrowing technical attributes that deliver the same comfort and fit of your favorite pair of runners or approach shoes—while ensuring you won't get kicked out of nicer restaurants.

From top to bottom: ECCO'S PHANTOM CATALYST ($85; 800-886-3226, www.ecco.com) is really an athletic shoe in disguise, soled with a cushy yet stable footbed. THE BØRN VOODOO ($105; 888-444-2769, www.bornshoes.com) looks tough on the outside, but the padded mesh-and-leather insole feels like a pillow. For a shoe that's easy on the eyes and joints, take COLE HAAN'S AIR MERCER, with its Nike AirÐcushioned heel ($245; 800-695-8945, www.colehaan.com). Or for serious loafing, HAVANA JOE'S WYATT ($130; 800-848-2774, www.havanajoe.com) uses a high-back heel cup that stays on your foot even after your laces come untied. MERRELL'S SPRINT BLAST 1940 ($90; 888-637-7001, www.merrell.com) comes with a track spike's tactile, glove-like fit, while the ROCKPORT TAD ($130; 800-762-5767, www.rockport.com) marries a seventies running shoe to a fifties bowling lace-up. photograph by nigel cox

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