Nowadays, it is hard to believe that 40 years ago, shoe linings were very much of a secondary item with regard to shoe uppers. They were after all, hidden inside the shoe and, at that time, foot comfort and health were not always priority considerations.
All this began to change when William Fay Snr. launched Faytex Corp. in 1978. Within two...
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...
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.
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.
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...
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.
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...
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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...
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...
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...
A desire for sustainable, high-performance materials for its footwear moved Camper to enter into discussions with the Lenzing Group and to add TENCEL to the list of natural fibres in its products.
Work and safety footwear manufacturer Maincal has become the first South American company in the sector to incorporate BASF’s Infinergy expanded TPU material into the midsole of its products.
A Vivobarefoot and Pittards partnership has created jobs and opportunities in the African country. With brands looking at new sourcing destinations, Pittards CEO Reg Hankey tells us why collaborative supply...
This year’s most publicised releases from major running shoe brands have one thing in common: carbon plates. Footwear designers who are not yet using the technology might want to take note.
Two Japanese airlines recently changed their stances on flight attendants wearing high heels, in response to growing pressure from employees, podiatrists and a hashtag about shoe pain.
For many years, the focus of safety footwear manufacturers has been on protecting workers from external physical danger. Developers also want to address less visible health concerns such as plantar fasciitis...
MIT researchers have drawn on kirigami, a variation of origami that involves cutting paper as well as folding it, to create a friction-boosting material that could be used to coat the soles of shoes, giving...
Swedish outdoor footwear brand Lundhags has always produced on home soil the long-lasting, high-shafted shell boots that helped make its name. More recently, it decided to give a fresh start to lower-cut,...
An offer of free access to a range of features on its Runkeeper app helped ASICS secure the participation of 14,000 people in a new study on the benefits of running during the weeks of the covid-19 lockdown...
Shoe designer Christian Louboutin has received encouragement to try out “fake” material in his collections in place of leather. He carried out his own research into the comparative merits of both materials and ...
An important part of the leather industry’s circular economy credentials is that, in this value chain, companies of all sizes are able to see the way forward from linear to circular production.
Uvex, recently celebrated an important success in a wide-ranging and prestigious design competition. A new soling system it put into a new line of safety shoes was instrumental in helping it win.
Developers of specialist materials and production systems seem more intent than ever on helping footwear companies eliminate waste from their manufacturing set-ups.
After decades of running shoes elevating the heel and hugging in the toes, two brands are nudging the footwear industry back toward more foot-shaped designs.