Empowering Mobility
Improving our communities at home and abroad.
At DARCO we are committed to providing quality podiatric products to those in need regardless of economic status or location. Since DARCO’s founding in 1985, we have expanded across the globe with offices and employees in the United States, Germany, England, India, and China to establish and maintain a local presence in the geographies we serve.
This global network allows us to build personal relationships with our partners to ensure our product design and services stay aligned with the needs of our diverse customer base. Whether it is the distributors who carry our products, the clinicians who prescribe them, or the patients who use them, our team is ready to provide support at every step of the product lifecycle making sure you get the most out of every DARCO product no matter where you are in the world.
We place great emphasis on continuing our own education as well as helping others continue theirs and are active supporters of educational initiatives worldwide. DARCO has sponsored global symposiums and workshops in Germany, Austria and China as well as contributed over $500,000 to the Fund for Podiatric Medical Education (FPME) providing scholarships to podiatry students in the United States.
DARCO Global Offices Left to Right: DARCO US (Huntington, WV); DARCO Europe (Raisting, Germany); DARCO China (Shanghai); DARCO India (Dharwad, Karnataka); DARCO UK (Halesworth, Suffolk)
A History of DARCO
1980’s
- 1985—Dr. H. Darrel Darby, DPM, a practicing podiatrist founds Darby Incorporated
- 1985—Original DARCO MedSurg™ Post-Op Shoe, featuring a semi-rigid sole designed for greater patient comfort and faster healing, marketed and distributed
- 1986—Company is renamed to DARCO International, Inc.
- 1987—DARCO International moves its corporate headquarters and distribution facility to Huntington, WV
- 1988—DARCO introduces its first ankle products and develops OEM relationships
1990’s
- 1992—Company develops and distributes special implants for foot surgery
- 1992—Establishment of European sales and distribution center, DARCO (Europe), in Diessen, Germany
- 1993—DARCO organizes the First German-American Symposium on Foot Surgery (Munich, Germany)
- 1994—DARCO helps to organize the Stiftung Fusschirurgie and repeats the Munich Symposium
- 1996—DARCO’s own ISO-certified production facility is established in Shanghai, China.
- 1999—DARCO receives certification according to the ISO 9001 quality standard.
- 1999—DARCO beings marketing a line of implants in Germany, helping to boost the company’s position as the premiere foot surgery company in Germany.
2000’s
- 2000—DARCO International Trading Shanhai Ltd. (DITSL) is incorporated to begin sales on the Chinese domestic market and provide service and support to DARCO’s Asian customers.
- 2002—DARCO Europe builds a new facility in Raisting, Germany to accommodate growth
- 2003—DARCO’s founder, Dr. H. Darrel Darby dies after a long and heroic battle with cancer.
- 2004—DARCO receives certification according to the ISO 13485 quality standard.
- 2004—Dr. Darby is posthumously awarded the “Distinguished Service Citation“, the highest honor bestowed by the APMA, in regonition of his contributions to the profession of podiatry.
- 2006—DARCO moves into its new US headquarters in Huntington, WV
- 2008—DARCO expands product portfolio in the areas of sports and physiotherapy.
2010’s
- 2012—The fourth international DARCO branch office, in Dharwad, Karnataka, India is opened.
- 2013—DARCO enters the market with innovative products for the treatment of the diabetic foot in all treatment phases.
- 2014—DARCO introduces the Relief Dual® sectoral off-loading shoe in the EU market.
- 2015—DARCO International celebrates its 30th anniversary.
- 2018—DARCO expands is presence in the British market with a new international office in the UK.
2020’s
- 2021—Successful MDR (Medical Device Regulation) certification guarantees smooth processes and security for DARCO customers.
- 2022—DARCO and the Society for Foot and Ankle Surgery (GFFC) celebrate 30 years of collaboration.
- 2024—Groundbreaking for new warehouse in Germany to increase storage capacity.
- 2024—DARCO UK achieves ISO 14001 certification, having integrated environmental aspects with their existing quality management system.
- 2024—DARCO Europe releases innovative new product—Movilo® (a therapeutic comfort shoe)
- 2025— DARCO releases POGO® (an athletic offloading sneaker)
- 2025— DARCO celebrates it’s 40th anniversary and unveils a new corporate image.
Our Founder
When Dr. H. Darrel Darby, DPM, a practicing podiatrist, grew frustrated with the design and performance of the wooden sole post-op shoes that dominated the market in the 1980s, he knew he needed to challenge the status quo set by the manufacturers of the time.
Dr. Darby began experimenting with incorporating running shoe technology into post op shoe design, drawing his first ideas on the back of a napkin. He turned his sketch into reality and developed the DARCO MedSurg™ Shoe, the world’s first post-operative shoe featuring a semi-rigid sole designed for greater patient comfort and faster healing.
It was this innovation that led Dr. Darby to found DARCO International in 1985. During his 18 years of leadership, Dr. Darby was instrumental in helping the company establish itself as one of the strongest foot and ankle brands in the world by becoming an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of podiatry products.
On November 18, 2003, Dr. Darby died after a long battle with cancer. In 2004, he was posthumously awarded the “Distinguished Service Citation”, the highest honor bestowed by the APMA, in recognition of his contributions to the profession of podiatry.
DARCO continues to honor Dr. Darby’s legacy by focusing on the core beliefs that have driven our company’s success since the beginning.
