Features

Technical Library

Select Language

Back to business

Founder of Brazilian footwear group Beira Rio, Roberto Argenta, ran for election as governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in October. His bid to hold high office fell short, meaning he can turn his attention once again to business. Footwear business leader Roberto Argenta had enjoyed an exciting and successful three-and-half decades in the...
loading..
Search: submit search
23 November 2022
A brand reborn - leather, world leather A brand reborn
A safety footwear brand that pioneered the widespread use of steel-toe boots in the 1940s has been relaunched and is reclaiming its Northamptonshire roots.
16 November 2022
Texon – 75 years of innovation - leather, world leather Texon – 75 years of innovation
The pace of change in the footwear industry is relentless, so to survive 75 years and continue to grow requires real stamina.
09 November 2022
A mission of sustainability - leather, world leather A mission of sustainability
Stanbee, a global manufacturer of box toes and heel counters was founded by Manny Berkson and his son Stan in Roseland, New Jersey in 1948.
03 November 2022
Bio-based 3D printing - leather, world leather Bio-based 3D printing
3D printing is beginning to make more of an impact on the footwear industry as new ideas and materials continue to come to market.
28 July 2022
Footwear’s history safe for the future - leather, world leather Footwear’s history safe for the future
The Netherlands’ important shoemaking and leatherworking heritage will be preserved in a spectacularly revamped museum after a turnaround by Waalwijk’s officials.
21 July 2022
Long-lasting and repairable - leather, world leather Long-lasting and repairable
The European Union wants new rules that will give consumers the right to know how durable and easy-to-repair products are before they buy them.
14 July 2022
Sustainable footwear, the 2030 Agenda and the Green Deal - leather, world leather Sustainable footwear, the 2030 Agenda and the Green Deal
Unless there are immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5°C will be impossible, with catastrophic consequences for people and the planet on which we...
07 July 2022
Eco-friendly torsion plates - leather, world leather Eco-friendly torsion plates
In the same way that Formula 1 racing cars serve as test beds for new automotive materials and technologies, so the sports shoe sector of the footwear industry has been instrumental in formulating new concepts ...
30 June 2022
The fifth industrial revolution is here - leather, world leather The fifth industrial revolution is here
Companies have become familiar with the concept of Industry 4.0, the fourth stage in the evolutionary path that, starting at the dawn of industrialisation, transformed manufacturing into the digital process...
23 June 2022
Out in the open - leather, world leather Out in the open
Running and ski mountaineering star Kílian Jornet has launched a new footwear, clothing and accessories brand with Mallorca-based footwear group Camper.
16 June 2022
Out of this world - leather, world leather Out of this world
Adidas’ director of footwear innovation, Arnau Sanjuan, tells World Footwear how software program Gravity Sketch is changing his approach to shoe design.
10 June 2022
Shoes on song - leather, world leather Shoes on song
Technical staff and stage-crew stayed safe at Rome’s 2022 First of May Concert thanks to a successful shoe duet between Diadora and Vibram.
27 May 2022
Upcycling waste foam - leather, world leather Upcycling waste foam
The US footwear market is huge. It also creates a huge amount of waste, with an estimated 300 million pairs of shoes thrown into landfills annually.
03 May 2022
Eco-conscious fabrics - leather, world leather Eco-conscious fabrics
Nowadays, it is hard to believe that 40 years ago, shoe linings were very much of a secondary item with regard to shoe uppers.
26 April 2022
An economist’s message of hope - leather, world leather An economist’s message of hope
Some of Italy’s 4,000-plus footwear manufacturers are small and, at times, a little fragile, but Milan-based economist Enrica Baccini insists that the Italian shoe industry as a whole is “anti-fragile”.
21 April 2022
Spikes at the flick of a switch - leather, world leather Spikes at the flick of a switch
More than 70 years after its launch, Sievi of Finland remains devoted to helping workers stay safe in difficult conditions. One recent innovation is a patented system that lets wearers gain extra stability on...
19 April 2022
New life for old ski boots - leather, world leather New life for old ski boots
With funding from the European Commission’s LIFE programme, footwear group Tecnica has launched an ambitious ski boot recycling project that it believes could help it change its business model.
08 April 2022
Erem’s biocircular ambitions - leather, world leather Erem’s biocircular ambitions
The CEO of a new brand, and great-grandson of the Timberland founder, tells us how leather and sustainable materials are central to his desire to demonstrate a new way of working.
01 April 2022
Coping with the pandemic - leather, world leather Coping with the pandemic
The world had hoped that the pandemic would have been beaten before the summer of 2021. Gradually the realisation came that we were in a longer game and that we would have to live with it, certainly in the...
25 March 2022
Data-driven design - leather, world leather Data-driven design
Assa Ashuach is a most interesting man. Born in Israel in 1969, he studied for a BA in product design at the Betzalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. After graduating, he opened a design studio that...
18 March 2022
Enabling a more sustainable future - leather, world leather Enabling a more sustainable future
Paola Faoro, Huntsman
25 October 2021
Doctor’s orders - leather, world leather Doctor’s orders
Few storied footwear brands have kept pace with the times as well as the seemingly ever-present Dr Martens, which remains fashionably relevant following wave after wave of popular culture.
18 October 2021
Welting points - leather, world leather Welting points
Footwear brand Paraboot’s ongoing use of Goodyear-welting and Norwegian welting in its shoes and boots is part of its raison d’être.
16 October 2021
Accuracy and flexibility - leather, world leather Accuracy and flexibility
06 October 2021
Benefits of instability - leather, world leather Benefits of instability
Portuguese outsole developer Aloft has worked with technology and research partners in Spain to produce Sphair Air Bubble, an outsole that makes a virtue of unevenness.
04 October 2021
Circularity on track - leather, world leather Circularity on track
Two rival safety footwear suppliers in the Netherlands have teamed up to establish the Circular Footwear Alliance. They continue to compete in the marketplace, but are helping each other collect used safety...
13 September 2021
Alternatives to leather fall short - leather, world leather Alternatives to leather fall short
Many parts of the fashion industry, supported by the vegan lobby, continue to claim that non-leather alternatives are more desirable and sustainable than the real thing.
08 September 2021
Modern toe puff and counter technology - leather, world leather Modern toe puff and counter technology
Toe puffs and counters are often taken for granted. This is a mistake as they both perform important functions in the finished shoe. Toe puffs preserve toe shape and prevent that area of the shoe from...
01 September 2021
3D scanning and children’s footwear - leather, world leather 3D scanning and children’s footwear
Dr Carina Price, University of Salford & Dr Stewart Morrison, University of Brighton
25 August 2021
Slipping and falling - leather, world leather Slipping and falling
Dr Jean Luc Chaverot, Maryse Garceau, CTC
20 August 2021
3D printed lasts and insoles - leather, world leather 3D printed lasts and insoles
Some people are unfortunate enough to be either born with deformed feet or to acquire them through illness or injury and therefore need special footwear.
05 July 2021
The billionaire backing the Clarks deal - leather, world leather The billionaire backing the Clarks deal
LionRock’s interest in Clarks could result in major changes in the way the footwear group functions, not least because of the interest a major figure in brand-building and business expansion in China has taken ...
28 June 2021
Distance learning - leather, world leather Distance learning
Durability, an outsole to provide grip on a wide variety of terrain types, a split in the carbon plate and the insight and expertise of ultrarunner Tommy Rivs combine to make a new shoe from Craft a product of ...
21 June 2021
Prize winners - leather, world leather Prize winners
Safety footwear styles made an impression on the jury at the German Design Awards 2021.
14 June 2021
Total transparency - leather, world leather Total transparency
A footwear company from Denmark believes that using leather that consumers can trace back to the farms that reared the cattle that supplied the hides strengthens its brand and enhances its sustainability...
07 June 2021
Two in one - leather, world leather Two in one
When the subject of polyure­thane soling comes up, one may automatically think of DESMA. This is because the German manufacturer has been the major supplier of PU moulding machines for 50 years.
28 May 2021
Sustainable Susterra - leather, world leather Sustainable Susterra
Eco-efficiency has been proposed as a key tool in promoting a transformation from unsustainable develop­ment to one of sustainable development. It is based on the concept of creating more goods and services...
21 May 2021
Treating footwear against Covid - leather, world leather Treating footwear against Covid
The pandemic caused by covid-19 burst into our lives unexpectedly, affecting in a remarkable way the activity of different industries, including footwear and its components.
12 May 2021
Reimagining fabrics for footwear - leather, world leather Reimagining fabrics for footwear
Over the last decade there has been a steady rise in the growth of footwear with flexible woven or knitted uppers, particularly in the athletic and performance field.
05 February 2021
A perception shift - leather, world leather A perception shift
The more consumers know about hemp as a fabric, the more they want products made from the sustainable, durable plant. That's why hemp footwear brands are building education into their business models.
29 January 2021
Improvement step by step - leather, world leather Improvement step by step
Portuguese safety footwear group AMF has provided a breakdown of the work it does to conceive, plan, create and construct a new model. It says that looking at the processes step by step allows it to see all...
22 January 2021
From football to footwear: leather gets a second chance - leather, world leather From football to footwear: leather gets a second chance
A US company has coined a way of turning leather waste into a new material and sees shoes as its main target market. After collaborating for three years, Timberland is the first big brand to use it in a new...
15 January 2021
Best tech forward - leather, world leather Best tech forward
Hassle-free returns come at a cost but have never been more in vogue than in the current covid-19 era, for both footwear retailers and shoppers.
19 November 2020
CTC lauds lab programme - leather, world leather CTC lauds lab programme
Research body CTC is helping footwear brands and their material suppliers put in place a high level of assurance that in-house laboratories are testing and measuring accurately, boosting confidence all along...

Browse all ...