There’s a specific type of shoe the world has been missing. We know, because we spent years looking for it — and years asking others to make it — before we finally accepted that we’d have to do it ourselves.

At Widetoes, our shoe store in Jakobstad, Ostrobothnia, we’ve been selling footwear and talking feet with customers of all ages for years. What we kept hearing — from physiotherapists, from customers with wide feet, from people switching away from conventional shoes — was a version of the same thing: I love the idea of a wide toe box, but barefoot shoes aren’t for me. Not yet, anyway.

That gap felt obvious once you saw it. Barefoot shoes do something remarkable for foot health — they give the toes room to spread, they keep the foot flat, they let you actually feel the ground. But the transition is real. A 3 mm sole on asphalt after a lifetime in cushioned shoes is a lot to ask.

The most important thing for foot health throughout life is that the toes have room — that they’re never squeezed together, day after day, in a shoe that’s too narrow.

Lina Björkskog, physiotherapist & co-founder

One brand, Altra, understood the combination early: a wide, foot-shaped toe box paired with real cushioning, built for runners who didn’t want to sacrifice comfort for form. But Altra only makes running shoes. The rest of the market seemed to have decided that wide toe boxes and cushioning were mutually exclusive in everyday footwear — you could have one or the other.

We asked. The answer was always no.

For years we approached our suppliers with a simple brief: a shoe with a genuinely wide, anatomical toe box, a flat sole with zero drop, some real cushioning, and quality leather upper. Something you could wear to work, to dinner, on a long day in the city.

Again and again, the answer was no. Either the toe box wasn’t wide enough, or the cushioning pushed the heel up and created drop, or the leather wasn’t right, or the factory couldn’t do the volume. There was always a reason it couldn’t be done.

So in 2026 we stopped asking and started making.

We found a small shoe factory outside Porto, in the region of Felgueiras — an area with generations of shoemaking tradition, where the craftsmanship is taken seriously and the work is done quietly and well. It reminded us, honestly, of home. We developed two models together with them, built them the way we’d always wanted, and called the brand BREJD — the Ostrobothnian dialect word for “wide”.

The two insoles

The detail we’re most proud of isn’t visible. Both models — the Bosund sneaker and the Juni ballet flat — come with two removable insoles made from recycled materials: a thin one (4 mm in Bosund, 4 mm in Juni) and a thicker one (8 mm in Bosund, 6 mm in Juni). The outsole itself is just 4 mm of rubber on Bosund and 3 mm on Juni.

This means the shoe works two ways. With the thin insole, you’re close to a true barefoot experience — maximum ground feel, natural foot movement, the kind of sensory feedback that strengthens the foot over time. With the thicker insole, you get meaningful cushioning for long days on hard surfaces, without any of the foot geometry changing. The toe box stays wide. The sole stays flat. The heel stays at the same height as the toe.

You decide, day by day, what your feet need.

Why Bosund. Why Juni.

Jonathan, one of our founders, grew up in Bosund — a small village in Larsmo, on the eastern edge of Ostrobothnia, right on the archipelago. Lina, our other founder and the physiotherapist behind much of the thinking in these shoes, has spent a lot of her summers there too, in the islands, on boats, in that particular kind of Ostrobothnian quiet where nobody makes a fuss but everything gets done properly.

Bosund isn’t flashy. Nobody there is trying to stand out. But if you look at what they build — boats, houses, the way they do things — it’s always done well. Quietly, without announcement, but done right. That’s what we wanted from the first shoe. No unnecessary details, no performative design. Just a sneaker made properly, all the way through.

Juni got its name differently. It was the first shoe we completed, and it launched in June 2026 — which also happens to be our favorite month. Long days, summer celebrations, time outdoors. Juni felt right for a ballerina that’s just as comfortable at a party as it is on a walk across town.

What we’ve launched

BREJD Bosund (149 €) is a unisex leather sneaker in nappa, nubuck and suede, in two colourways — Ivory White & Tan and Chestnut & Tan. The outsole is 4 mm rubber, zero drop. It has a generous fit across the instep and a wide toe box that accommodates both narrow and wide feet. The lacing lets you fine-tune the fit. Weight is low. The leather is naturally water-repellent and built to last.

BREJD Juni (105 €) is a women’s ballet flat in three colourways — Cadillac Black in patent leather, Velvet Black in suede, and Rosewood Brown in nubuck. The 3 mm outsole is the thinnest we’ve made, and the aniline leather lining feels remarkable against bare skin. The adjustable buckle strap over the instep makes it easy to get the fit right. Lina, who designed the shoe partly around her own feet, wears size 36 and finds the suede and nubuck versions soften and shape to the foot almost immediately.

We also have a small thing we’re quietly proud of: the BREJD Crew socks (6,50 €), designed in Finland and made in the EU. 95% cotton, wide toe box, high-ribbed cuff that stays up. Designed for barefoot shoes, but honestly just a good sock for anyone who cares about their toes having room.

BREJD is a brand from Widetoes, based in Jakobstad, Ostrobothnia. All shoes are made in Portugal in a small factory with good working conditions. Bosund and Juni are available now at widetoes.com and at brejd.com.