Keen Gets Cooler For Summer

Keen's hybrid footwear made a big impact in the UK last year with their distinctive boxy styling and unusual looks seducing a good few wallets and they've expanded the range for this summer.

Top dog in the summer range is the new, more ventilated, Venice sandal pictured below. It's a similar sort of shoe to the Newport, which we tested last year - see link below - but with more gaps and less upper to make it more amenable to really stinking hot weather use.

Unlike the Newport, which is still in the range, the Venice is available in both waterproof leather, but also in a fast-drying synthetic polyester version called the Venice H2. An Aegis Microbe Shield treated lining promises to minimise pong potential and a metatomical footbed. Price is £64.99.

Like the Newport it also features Keen's patented toe protection bumper, but the company tell us that the shape is more streamlined and less agressively boxy on the Venice.

Should make for an interesting, cool, quick-drying summer shoe and, like other Keen footwear, it's machine washable in both leather and fabric guises.

The UK Keen site is at www.keenfootwear.co.uk but the new range isn't on it at the time of writing. You can, however, see it at the US site www.keenfootwear.com. Oh, and take a look at the Ochoco trail-running shoe as well... Interesting :-)