How to give your feet a treat in the summer heat

Why people are wearing wool — even when it's 85ºF

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August 5, 2026 10:03am EDT

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Matte tone:

Here's a wardrobe hack drawing on wisdom that dates back 5,000 years on the Asian Steppe.

Wool doesn't conduct heat. That's what makes it so useful — and comfortable — whether you're wearing it in January or July.

For thousands of years, herders in the Tian Shan foothills have lined their yurts with felt against the summer heat as much as the winter cold. The same wool walls that retains warmth in December keeps interiors cool when the summer sun is beating down on Krygyz pastures and valleys.

Why wool wins

A polyester slipper turns clammy fast, trapping the moisture your feet give off.

Felted wool works differently. Its fibers hold thousands of tiny pockets of air that naturally regulate temperature. In hot weather, wool breathes, moving moisture away before it can build into a damp, stuffy feeling. Clean, cushioned feet—no clamminess, no odor, no sweat.

One material, all seasons

Our customers have noticed:

Every pair of Kyrgies is felted by hand in Bishkek, dense enough to insulate and last, but pourus enough to ventilate.

That's the the science of summer comfort — something our artisan partners in Kyrgystan who shape Kyrgies by hand figured this out generations ago.