What do the Cole Haan family names mean?

Most Cole Haan shoes here sit in one of four families, and the family name tells you what kind of shoe it is:

• OriginalGrand: mostly wingtip and plain toe oxfords on a sneaker-style sole, plus a few sneakers. The OriginalGrand Remastered Stitchlite Ox, for example, takes a wingtip dress shoe and adds a sneaker-style midsole. The Energyweave versions add Energy Rebound cushioning and a FlowerFlex sole.
• GrandPro: court sneakers, most with GRANDFOAM cushioning. The Topspin is tennis-inspired, the Crossover is basketball-inspired and the Breakaway is soccer-inspired.
• Grand Crosscourt: everyday sneakers that mix court and running styles, such as the Downtown, the Premier II and the Traveler.
• ZeroGrand: lighter shoes, including the 2.ZeroGrand Stitchlite Oxford, the Rexanna Waterproof sneaker and the City X-Trainer for the gym.

Stitchlite, GRANDFOAM and FlowerFoam

Three more names come up again and again. Stitchlite is Cole Haan's knit upper; the listings call it breathable, and it shows up across families, from the Grand Crosscourt RunOx to the ZeroGrand Rella. GRANDFOAM is the cushioning in most GrandPro sneakers. FlowerFoam is a cushioning made with dandelion rubber: the GrandPro Ashland lists 25% dandelion rubber in its midsole.

Men's and women's Cole Haan

Men's pairs run from size 40 to 46 and women's from 36 to 41. Women get platform styles too, such as the GrandPro Max Platform and the OriginalGrand Platform Wingtip. For sport, there is the women's 5.ZeroGrand Runner for running and the ZeroGrand City X-Trainer for training.

If you want one pair for the office and the weekend, start with an OriginalGrand wingtip: it looks like a dress shoe and wears like a sneaker. Then compare men's lifestyle shoes, women's lifestyle shoes and all lifestyle shoes.