JANUARY Is the Newest Running Brand to Know. We Tested Its First Shoe

Why Start Another Running Brand?

California-based JANUARY was founded by Wei-En Chang, a footwear industry veteran, former global footwear design director o skate brand DC Shoes, and founder minimalist sneaker label Clae.

The idea behind JANUARY came to Chang as he started running more post-pandemic. After being isolated for so long, he found joy in the opportunity to exercise with others. Like any newcomer, he experimented with a variety of running shoes, but felt lost in a sea of carbon-plated race day kicks with preposterous stack heights and underwhelming trainers that lacked support. Where was the everyday shoe that was supportive, lightweight, and that wouldn’t throw off his center of gravity by cushionmaxxing?

“We’re living in this time when material science for running is better than it has ever been across the board,” Chang told me. The JANUARY team worked with a supplier to develop a single-piece dual-density midsole they call KineXion. It's a nitrogen-infused thermoplastic elastomer foam designed to be softer in the heel as the foot strikes the ground and firmer in the toes when the foot pushes off again. Many midsoles consist of a single-density foam, or have a layered approach in which two different density foams are stacked upon one another or integrated with cutouts. The idea behind KineXion was to offer a more customized ride through the running stride rather than the same degree of firmness throughout.

Chang couldn’t resist including a little skate shoe flair. The Scignal's design harkens back to the trainers he used to love in the '80s that had microfiber suede panels in high-wear areas. “As an ex-skateboarder, I always like a protected toe,” said Chang. “So putting a toe panel on a shoe is really important to me.”

Other features include a honeycombed tongue in a soft mesh that feels luxurious on the instep and provides increased breathability, plus a padded heel collar for a secure fit. As someone who prefers a spacious running shoe, I found the out-of-the-box fit to be the most comfortable of any running shoe I’ve tried in recent years. It was a promising first step, but I knew that making a decent running shoe on the first try is tricky work—how would it feel out on the pavement?

Walking the Walk

As BIPOC business owners, it was important to Chang and his co-founder Cherlyn Quan-Read not only to make a quality shoe but to position JANUARY as an inclusive brand.

“We’re part of vulnerable populations that have been targeted by our government,” said Chang. “I think it would be a moral failing to pretend nothing’s happening and take a back seat because it’s politically expedient.”

To that end, the Scignal is designed with underrepresented runners in mind. The company built it on a unisex last rather than creating a women's option that's just a resized version of the men's, presented in traditionally feminine colors, as is often the case. On the JANUARY website, women’s sizes are listed first, followed by men’s, and each colorway has a unique story about the landscape that inspired it.

Chang is well aware that such positioning can also be seen as a marketing strategy. “If you look at the statistics for participation, women and minorities are surging in terms of driving growth in the running industry, and the brands that are serving this next generation of consumers are the ones that are going to succeed in the future,” he said.

Still, his goal is to do with JANUARY what running did for him coming out of COVID, and that is to champion community: “We’re not just doing it for pragmatic financial reasons, but because this is who we are.”

Review: How Does the Scignal Perform on the Run?

For most of my runs this summer, I've been wearing the Scignal. I've tested it on long dirt roads of Northern Vermont and my local 3.2-mile Fresh Pond loop in Cambridge, MA, which winds through urban woodlands and past a golf course. I found it to be an exceptional ride on all of the surfaces I encountered.

The shoe's dual-density midsole is propulsive, and I could feel the cushion supporting each foot strike while also enjoying a little support as I kicked off again. Given that I have flexible arches and can have foot pain in shoes that aren’t supported enough, I worried about the more minimal cushioning—the Scignal's stack height is 36mm in the heel and 28mm up front, and the shoe is flexible enough to bend over onto itself in a U—but found the KineXion to work as advertised. I didn’t have any post-run foot pain.

I've also taken the Scignal to the steps of Harvard Stadium. There are 37 sections of seating, and a beloved form of torture for Cantabridgians is going up and down every single section. I wouldn’t try this in a running shoe with a high stack height, as it would be easier to mistime a step on fatigued legs and turn an ankle. But with the Scignal I found myself bounding up the stairs (okay, at least for the first two sections). At 7.4 ounces for a women’s 10.5/men’s 9, it is on the lighter side for a daily driver sort of shoe.

With its sort of old-school sneaker aesthetics, the Scignal isn't out of place as a daily trainer, and I appreciated that I could wear it while running errands or playing with my kids. Some super shoes seem like superhero capes—you should only dust them off if you want to go faster than a speeding bullet. The Scignal's lower stack height lends the shoe functionality at lower speeds and in a variety of activities.

Chief among things to note might be the Scignal's price: $195. That's premium territory, but after about 60 total miles of testing, I did notice a little separation on one of the shoes where the sole meets the upper by the toe box, which makes me wonder about the durability of the Scignal over the long haul. In addition, the sole can feel responsive to the point of squishiness, a feature that I find comfortable but which might bother runners looking for a firmer ride, or who might be concerned about losing energy in the rebound. Yet my runs were still plenty swift, and my overall times remained in their typical range.

The Competition

The Scignal is similar to other daily trainers that provide lightweight versatility in regular stack heights. Other shoes that provide a similar experience at a premium price point include the Tracksmith Eliot Runner ($198), which offers heritage looks but lacks the support for longer distances, On Cloudsurfer 2 ($160), which provides a firmer ride, or the Mount to Coast S1 ($150), which has a more durable construction that allows it to excel as a cross-trainer.

Final Thoughts — How Strong Is the Scignal?

At $195, the Scignal is priced like a premium runner, and it will be interesting to see if JANUARY can be the latest boutique running brand to get a foothold in the market. Based on my testing, I would bet on this underdog. On a golden hour run on dirt roads bisecting the farmland of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, I expected the route's many rolling climbs to induce serious foot fatigue. Maybe it was the bucolic summer light, or maybe it was the temporary freedom from parenting duties, but I had that rare feeling on a run, which a shoe can either inspire or seriously hamper, that I could just…keep…going.