Most recommendation engines are optimizing for the wrong thing. They want you to click, to scroll, to buy something — anything. They don't care if it's right for you, because the commission lands either way.
The result is a catalog that feels endless but never quite right. You know your taste. The tools just don't.
DISTL I/O is a taste-based recommendation engine for footwear. It learns why you like something — the silhouette, the colorway, the material, the overall aesthetic — not just what you've clicked on before.
Tell us a few shoes you love. We build a detailed taste profile from your picks, score every shoe in our catalog against it, and surface the ones that genuinely match. Rate what you see and the engine gets sharper with every interaction.
The goal isn't to show you more shoes. It's to show you the right ones.
The most wasteful thing in fashion isn't what you buy — it's what you stop wearing. The shoe that seemed right in the cart but wrong on your feet. The one that sits in the corner because it was never really you.
Buying right the first time is itself an environmental act. Less impulse. Less regret. Less waste. That conviction runs through everything we do.
We donate 5% of profits to environmental and conservation organizations — land protection, ocean health, and reforestation.
We're a small operation and we're being straightforward about that number. As we grow, so does the commitment.
Start by selecting a few shoes that represent your taste — styles you own, styles you love, styles you wish you could find more of. Our engine builds a profile from those picks, capturing the patterns in your aesthetic preferences.
From there, every shoe in the catalog gets scored against your profile. The highest matches surface first. Rate what you see — love it, like it, pass — and the engine refines its understanding of your taste over time.
No account required to start. Your profile lives in your browser until you're ready to save it.
DISTL I/O participates in affiliate marketing programs. Some product links are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure →