About Us

When we started KEEN in 2003, we said we'd do things differently. We'd bring people together, look out for each other, and take care of our planet. That's why we're in business. We just happen to make really good shoes.

We want forever shoes, not “forever chemicals.”

A class of about 14,000 fluorinated compounds known as PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — forever chemicals earned their nickname because of how persistent they are. These toxic synthetic chemicals never break down, remain in the environment, and enter the food chain. It’s a nickname we’re all becoming more familiar with as headlines continue to pop up about forever chemicals being found in everything from fast food wrappers to drinking water.

Several years ago, we discovered that they were in our shoes, too. Or, more accurately, on them. It turns out that the durable water repellency (DWR) treatments commonly used in outdoor apparel and footwear contain perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. In 2014, we took action to give them and all PFAS the boot.