Not only are these shoes the product of two top-quality materials, but Koio actually stitches the soles to the leather like you might see in a boot or dress shoe — a massive improvement over sneakers with glued soles.

As far as the small details that matter so much with minimal sneakers, the Koio has some nice, subdued touches and features. It has a six-eyelet open lacing system, and it comes with waxed cotton laces.

It also features a suede heel counter to prevent the shoe from slipping off the back of your foot, as well as a bit of subtle padding around the collar. The tongue is pretty thin, and the lace loop helps keep it in place. 

The Capri’s branding is pretty low-key. It has an embossed Koio logo on the tongue and an embossed wordmark on the heel. There isn’t any contrasting coloring to make either of these stand out, so they create a really clean, sleek look. 

The Comfort and Fit

Style is great, but if a pair of shoes isn’t comfortable or doesn’t fit well, you’re not going to wear them. 

Typically, leather sneakers require a break-in period to loosen up and take the shape of your foot. This period can be uncomfortable, and you might experience some blisters on your heels or around your ankles. The sneakers might even squeak.

I’m happy to say that I didn’t experience any squeaking with the Capris. Right out of the box, the leather felt soft and luxurious, and there wasn’t much of a break-in period to deal with. I didn’t experience any blisters, and I think that’s mostly due to the plush leather lining around the collar and on the tongue. 

Achieving the perfect fit did require a bit of a workaround, though. I usually wear a size 7 in dress shoes and sneakers, but Koio’s size 7 felt too large for my foot.

The issue is that men’s sizing only goes down to 7. Luckily, the Capri is a unisex shoe. I went over to the women’s side of the site and purchased a size 8.