Last Updated on 15.02.2023
It’s always exciting to follow the many great designs that Be Lenka launches every season. With a great sense of aesthetics, design and quality, and by listening to the feedbacks of their customers, it is experiencing tremendous popularity and growth among all those who want healthy and functional feet.
Be Lenka was founded in 2017 by former Paralympic athletes Lenka Cenigova and Juraj Fehervari, who have made Be Lenka one of the most recognisable brands on the barefoot footwear market in a very short period of time. The brand originates from Slovakia, and all their shoes are made and designed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Be Lenka release numerous designs every season and the kind of diversity you find in this brand is rarely seen anywhere else. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the many new designs and colours that are launched each season. Their range includes models from children’s sizes to the largest men’s sizes. In this review I have only mentioned the models that I or my children have personally tested.
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1. Basic information
1.1 General
- Brand: Be Lenka
- Sizes: 25-47
- Tested on: woman, medium-wide feet, 26.3 cm long and 10 cm wide, low instep, skinny ankles with narrow heel, fin-shaped foot (see my how to measure guide and foot type)
1.2 Materials
Originally, Be Lenka shoes were made exclusively of leather, but in recent years they have also added a number of vegan models made of textile or vegan leather. The leather used in the adult models is of excellent quality and the shoes are very well made, but I have no personal experience with vegan models yet.
In 2022, Be Lenka also launched a brand new vegan brand, Barebarics, which focuses on a younger audience with its youthful footwear designs.
1.3 Sole
Be Lenka uses different types of soles for its models, which vary in thickness, softness, depth of tread, shape and width.
Sole 1 can be found on many models such as City, All-year, Champ, Eazy, etc. The sole is 4 mm thick and made of a firmer, durable rubber. Due to the more compact design, it doesn’t give you the intense ground feel that softer barefoot soles do, but the sole is still soft enough that you can roll it in all directions without a problem.
The sole 2 is designed specifically for winter conditions and is the most robust of all soles. It has a deep lugs that gives you good grip on surfaces where more slipperiness is expected. The sole thickness is 4 mm (without tread and insole), but the overall thickness of the sole is greater due to the deeper lugs, which is also felt when the less intense ground feel. This is the sole used for example in the Snowfox model.
Sole 3 is a less robust version of sole 2, which can be found fro example on the redesigned Entice 2.0 or the Brooklyn. The rubber outsole is 4 mm thick (without lugs) and is flexible in all directions. The ground feel is good, but slightly cushioned. The sole may feel slipperier on smooth surfaces in the rain.
Sole 4 is used in sandals and is 4 mm thick. The sole is thin but firm. Because of its firmness, it does not react as well to the ground as softer soles in sandals, but such a thin sole is safer if it is more compact.
You can find sole 5 in the new ballet flast. The sole is firmer, making it more difficult to twist in different directions. The ballet flats also have an insole, so the ground feeling is less intense and slightly cushioned.
The sole 6 is the softest of all Be Lenka soles. It can be found on the Trailwalker model. This extremely minimal outsole is very flexible in all directions and they ground feel is great.
1.4 Length
Inner shoe lengths and widths vary from model to model, so always check the size chart for each model before ordering. The inside lengths quoted for winter models are not always realistic due to thicker linings (shoes may appear shorter).
For most Be Lenka models, I wear a size 42 (my foot length is 26.3 cm), where I have about 10 mm of space in front of my toes. Usually I am already at the limit in terms of the amount of toe room needed in this size. For winter models, which have a warmer lining, I wear a size 43.
For more detailed information on sizing, see the descriptions of each model.