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Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Helen Ledwick.

Today.

What have you come here for today?

My barefoot shoes.

Barefoot shoes that are designed to feel like you're not wearing any.

Once a niche product for runners,

minimalist footwear is stepping into the mainstream.

Barefoot shoes have found their way onto catwalks

and into high street stores in demand

from health-conscious consumers looking for a more natural way to move.

I saw the difference between barefoot shoes

and what we normally get in the shops.

And when you can see the difference, I was like, oh, hang on a minute.

Markets in the US, Germany and the UK have been growing steadily in recent years. Now, thanks to

social media, interest is spreading to other countries too, including India with its vast

consumer base. We are very happy with the kind of response that we have got

and how people have taken to it and are understanding the advantages of it.

So are minimalist shoes the future of footwear or a passing trend?

And do they live up to the hype?

The growth of the barefoot shoe market, all coming up in today's program.

It's a Saturday morning in a hotel function room near Birmingham in England.

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