Features

Technical Library

Select Language

A shoe for high achievers

Footwear brand Scarpa picked a special athlete to help it develop its latest trail-running shoe, the Spin Planet.   Veneto-based outdoor footwear group Scarpa has a new style of footwear in its spring-summer 2023 collection that it describes as its most eco-friendly long-distance trail-running shoe ever. Part of the Planet range, the new ...
loading..
Search: submit search
21 April 2023
Carbon-neutral safety shoes - leather, world leather Carbon-neutral safety shoes
Italian brand U-Power is claiming a world first, with a range of safety footwear that is certified as carbon-neutral.
13 April 2023
Fast getaway - leather, world leather Fast getaway
With the launch of a hands-free children’s footwear line, Kizik’s signature collapsible heel has simplified the act of putting on shoes for all ages and abilities.
05 April 2023
Prize fighters - leather, world leather Prize fighters
A revamped format for the ISPO Award programme has given footwear its own category. In 2022, 12 different shoe, boot and footwear technology ideas were among the winners.
29 March 2023
Beyond IOT and towards servitisation - leather, world leather Beyond IOT and towards servitisation
Back in 2017 The Economist made a bold statement in declaring that the world’s most valuable resource was no longer oil but data, a commodity in a lucrative, fast-growing industry very much like oil was a...
16 March 2023
The circular economy and recycling footwear - leather, world leather The circular economy and recycling footwear
Shahin Rahimifard, SMART (Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing and Recycle Technologies)
09 March 2023
Green Shoes 4.0 - leather, world leather Green Shoes 4.0
Maria José Ferreira and Green Shoes 4.0 consortium
02 March 2023
Comfortable high heels - leather, world leather Comfortable high heels
Women have always favoured high heels for a number of reasons. As they are usually smaller in stature than men, high heels make them taller and this makes them feel more confident and empowered.
23 February 2023
From one crisis to another - leather, world leather From one crisis to another
2022 was supposed to be the year of ‘lift off’ after the 2021 partial bounce back from covid and a general reaching of pre-covid levels of production and consumption.
12 January 2023
Back to business - leather, world leather 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...
04 January 2023
The ongoing problem of sizing - leather, world leather The ongoing problem of sizing
It has been reported that a recent study in South Africa found that school shoes currently available at retail were not suitable for the habitually barefoot population studied.
21 December 2022
New leadership at Foot Locker - leather, world leather New leadership at Foot Locker
With Richard Johnson retiring, new Foot Locker CEO, Mary Dillon, might be exactly what the sportswear and apparel retailer needs.
15 December 2022
Robotic bagging of insoles - leather, world leather Robotic bagging of insoles
Jesús Arregui, M. Dolores Fabregat, José Francisco Gómez and Eduardo Calabuig, INESCOP, Spain
07 December 2022
A new day is dawning - leather, world leather A new day is dawning
Brands are giving themselves plenty of time to bring circular footwear programmes to market, but, for innovative companies in the shoe supply chain, work to develop the materials those programmes will need is...
30 November 2022
From forests to footwear midsoles - leather, world leather From forests to footwear midsoles
It only became a player in the $30 billion global market for MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) recently, but UPM Biochemicals is determined to drive change immediately by using bio-based raw materials to make this...
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

Browse all ...