Russian Pointe Akoya Pointe Shoes

Heard these are good for replacement of Russian Pointe Entrada pro. Overall a solidly built good quality shoe!! But not the same as Entrada pro. The platform on the Entrada pro is a touch smaller, more petite for lack of a better word, and there’s more of a taper but also a bit of a rounded taper, not a hard v shape but softly rounded V. Having said that, the Akoya is still tapered and a great shoe. I needed to go down a width and length (I wear 37.5w3 in EP and 37w2 in Akoya). The vamps are still long on my short toes so I lower them myself since vamp 1 is a custom order. For me it’s a different box shape and enough of a difference that I can’t get over the box like I can with EP. I think R class has either the CL 80 or CL 90 are comparable to EP but haven’t tried them yet.

Love the RPs

Love love love them

Having been a long time fan of the entrada pro (40w6v2) I was skeptical when I first tried the akoya. To my extremely pleasant surprise, the akoya is quite comfortable, and it gives my feet a good feeling of lift within the box. And the roll through is clean and smooth. Out of the box, size 40w6v2 fit like a glove once I swapped my thin eurotard toe protectors out for my thicker ouch pouches.My feet are notoriously hard to fit (size 9 street shoe, VERY narrow heel, really wide but highly compressible metatarsals, long toes, Morton's toe/elongated 2nd toe plus an extreme taper; medium profile, low but long arch - yeesh!), and until the Akoyas, the only shoe that worked for me across any brand has been the RP entrada pro.My Akoyas don't seem to be lasting as long as my EPs, but they do articulate well and give me a lifted feeling while letting me fully over the box. When I buy them again, however, I will probably try a 5 instead of 6 on the width, since with wear the box has loosened up a bit more than I anticipated. While I will always love the EPs, the Akoyas are a lovely replacement that covers all of my pointe fit needs and most of my wants, and they do it while making my duck feet look every bit as elegant as the v-throated EPs once did (not an easy task!).If I had any complaints at all, they would be that I find the tops of the wings a little bit too soft and that the top of the box at the throat is a little over-flexible/weak for my taste. But seeing as this quick softening is only happening to one of the shoes (I rotate left and right to more evenly distribute west), it very well could just be a manufacturing hiccup.If you were an entrada pro fanatic and are struggling to find a replacement shoe, definitely give these a go. They definitely aren't the same, but in many ways the Akoyas are almost like an improved version of our beloved EPs. Just consider going down a width from the EP sizing if you also have wide but highly compressible feet.