Teva Sport Sandal Heritage Defines Updated Footwear Lineup

Teva’s latest footwear is the Teva Trailpeak.

Kyle LaFerriere Photography

Teva pioneered the sport sandal space in 1984. Those 40-plus years of sandal heritage continue to define sandal technology, serving as the basis for the brand’s newest efforts in footwear. The latest shoe launch, the Trailpeak, comes inspired by this history, but blended with modern technology, Zack Paris, director of advanced concepts and innovation at Teva, tells me. It’s the first product to come out of the new Teva Bureau of Adventure, formed during the brand’s 40^thanniversary in January 2025, created to “lean into the fun the brand had in the past” and blend that ethos with the materials of today.

“We really tapped into the spirit of the original sandals created out of a need on the river,” Paris says. “That birthed the original sport sandal that Teva built and pushed to the extremes for 40 years. How do we evolve that and building something now?”

The Bureau of Adventure has worked with athletes—endurance and ultra runners, whitewater kayakers and fishing and hiking athletes—to create a lineup of products set to launch through 2027, all based on the concepts of the sport sandal. The Trailpeak, though, represents the first in the lineup.

Designers started by looking at what Teva didn’t have in the range and opted to create “something athletes can rely on, that is lightweight, nimble.” It’s a shoe designed to allow people to train and race shorter distances while enjoying high-end foam. “We wanted a very simple, straightforward shoe that was a ton of fun,” Paris says.

It comes inspired by sandal heritage, locking the foot onto the foam, providing individualized containment, giving the toes room and allowing the wearer to feel the ground as they uncover a variety of experiences. “The materials that have the highest impact on your experience are highlighted and everything else is about minimalizing,” Paris says.

On the Trailpeak, that comes in the form of 12 individual anchor points in the internal support cage. These fully independent wings within the webbing provide individualized articulation to conform to the foot. “You get sandal adaptation,” Paris says about the upper’s design.

Another sandal takeaway comes in the footbed. A sandal eliminates layers and gets the foot directly on the foam, “closer to the real fun stuff,” Paris says, so the Trailpeak does something similar with a brand-new midsole dubbed the Hyper-Comf+ featuring a supercritical foam, but at a $160 price point that makes it accessible for people to use on daily runs instead of having to save for race days. Paris says the thin layer of the foam provides comfort and flexibility akin to a sandal instead of a stiff platform or a huge rocker design. “This is more about flexibility, dancing over rocks and having that great ground feel without sacrificing comfort,” he says. “This has a little bit of extra pep, making a modern generation of really fun shoes.”

Teva’s toe boxes mimic a sandal, with a more rounded look to offer ample space. The lighter weight and lack of an intense rocker on the Trailpeak also matches sandal heritage, welcoming more “play” in the midsole for flexibility and giving the shoe the ability to handle a range of outdoor experiences.

Teva started when a river rafting guide used Velcro watch straps to keep flip-flops from floating down the river, Teva birthed a new category and moved into hiking and running sport sandals by the early 1990s. That evolved into action sports in the early 2000s—when the first shoe appeared. Lifestyle options have cropped up in the past decade.

With the 40^th anniversary, Teva, owned by Deckers Brands, decided to dive into the archives to help define the future, using the modern foams and materials to make lighter and more efficient models. “We have a ton more tools in our kit and athletes who inspire us in some new and unique ways,” Paris says. “We love to embrace the choose your own adventure mentality.”

As the Teva Bureau of Adventure builds, expect to see a range of models appear in 2027, some linked to the brand’s history on the water—the Hydratrek non-slip outsole offers a prominent feature—and new silhouettes for trail and endurance with the goal of offering a range for trail hiking and running, water (especially around rafts) and camp.

“We are out here to have fun,” Paris says. “There are companies focused on winning and competing first, and Teva is always about finding your own adventure, having fun, pushing your limits and providing confidence for anyone to do that. We really aim to bring that sense of play.”

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