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.
The ISPO events in Munich have re-emerged in changed forms since covid-19. The pandemic brought major disruption to ISPO Munich and OutDoor by ISPO in 2020, 2021 and 2022, prompting important changes to the timing and format of both events.
ISPO Munich moved from January or February to November, starting with the most recent edition of the exhibition in November 2022. OutDoor by ISPO’s dates are also to come forward in the calendar to early June in 2023 and 2024, eventually settling into a May slot in 2025.
On announcing these changes, organisers, Messe München, also presented a revised format for the ISPO Award. They said: “The ISPO Award is breaking new ground with a modernised concept. From now on, the award will be presented all year round; winners will be selected and announced throughout the year.” Companies will be able to choose when to submit their entries, with deadlines each quarter, rather than wait almost a full year, as they sometimes had to do in the past, to show off the innovations they had engineered into their products. The judges’ panel will meet every three months, assess the entries that come in and name the products that win an ISPO Award. Winners will have the choice of being part of the Awards Gathering, a dedicated display of new trophy-takers, at either of the two exhibitions, choosing which show and which time of year suit them best.
In 2022, the first year in which the new format applied, a total of 95 products received an ISPO Award. In 2020, there were 42 ‘gold’ winners and a further 51 shortlisted products. The overall numbers were, therefore, similar, but the revised 2022 format was clearer, with the categories better defined. And while shoes and boots have won plenty of ISPO Awards in the past, they were spread out among broader categories whereas in 2022, for the first time, footwear was a category in its own right.
Twelve impressively diverse footwear products claimed a place at the 2022 Awards Gatherings and this article’s purpose is to capture some introductory information about each of them.
Mountain merit
Swiss brand Scott Sports was among the winners for its Cosmos Re-Source ski touring boot. The judges scored the boot highly because 92% of the plastic parts it contains derive from biomass rather than from fossil fuels and because the power-strap is 100% recycled. Another ski boot to feature among the prizes was the Fischer One & Two Alpine boot for children, which has a hook-and-loop fastener, waterproof gaiter and lightweight shell as its standout attributes. There was a further winner representing children’s cold-weather footwear in the shape of the Megapito winter boot from Finnish brand Reima. The panel liked this product’s reliable protection from temperatures of minus-30 degrees in a lightweight, flexible, child-friendly design.
Still in the mountains, Scarpa’s Phantom 8000 Thermic HD boot was among the winners. The boot is technically constructed and designed for high altitudes, hence the reference to 8,000 in the name. It is designed to keep the feet warm via two removable heated inner soles, but also to protect other muscles from cooling down with high-closing gaiters. Mountain brand manager at Scarpa, Francesco Favilli, has explained that stopping a climber from shivering means the risk of injury is reduced and performance and safety improve. Stimulate better blood flow, he said, and shivering stops.
One brand, four awards
One brand, Merrell, picked up no fewer than four winner’s trophies. One of these was for a hiking boot called Rogue Hiker, which the brand presents as being ideal for backpackers because it has a high level of grip with its Vibram Megagrip sole. However, the boot is light in weight and 953 grammes per pair, which led the ISPO Award judges to say it feels like a trail-running shoe. This is not a coincidence because Merrell developed the Rogue Hiker using a trail-running shoe last rather than a traditional boot last.
Merrell also won for another version of this boot, the MTL Thermo Rogue 4, which is designed specifically for winter hiking. It will come to market in the third quarter of 2023. The brand describes this product as “a lightweight, sporty winter boot with robust features”. These robust features include a Vibram Arctic Grip outsole and Gore-Tex upper. MTL, which stands for Merrell Test Lab, is a tag that the brand applies to shoes that have come through its in-house incubator programme.
The third product in Merrell’s quadruple win was the Agility Peak 5 ultra trail running shoe, which supports the current trend of fast hiking, the brand says. It has a high level of cushioning in the midsole and a Vibram Megagrip sole for traction. Senior brand manager, Nathan Buelow, has said Merrell is thrilled to see increased participation in trail running and said he hoped a shoe like the Agility Peak 5 would convince even more runners to try the trail.
Trail running was also the focus of its fourth award-winning product, the MTL Skyfire 2. In this shoe, the brand is aiming for “technical sophistication” in a lightweight construction. Its lightweight materials (200 grammes per shoe) reduce fatigue while a plated midsole provides stability.
Forward running
Running shoes from other brands were among the ISPO Award winners as well in 2022. On’s Cloudmonster has what the judges described as a “strikingly thick sole”, which they liked because of its cushioning and its unusual look. Other features include high damping of vibration, a strong rebound, a high level of breathability and its use of quick-drying recycled materials.
Berlin-based brand Winqs won for its Zerofly running shoe. Winqs is on a quest to move the athletic footwear sector away from petroleum-based plastics and strategic overproduction and into plant-based and recycled materials. The outsole is made of hybrid rubber and was developed with Michelin from rubber waste. The particularly lightweight Pebax midsole is made in part from castor seeds. For the inner lining, Winqs relies on bio-based Tencel derived from wood pulp. The shoe’s two-layer upper also features a thin layer of 100% recycled polyester.
Good balance
Adidas and partners also featured, with the Terrex Free Hiker XPL Gore-Tex Parley boot, which, according to the judges, strikes a good balance between functional outdoor footwear and urban design. It is a lightweight, waterproof hiking boot that uses fibres recycled from ocean plastic and an ePE membrane from Gore-Tex.
Finally, among the footwear winners is InsoleFinder, a software tool from Hamburg-based Currex, which is aimed at end consumers and at specialist retailers. The software application involves motion analysis of the foot and picks out the insole that will work best for participants in ten different sports, including running, hiking, football, cycling and tennis.
Credit: Munich Trade Fairs Ltd.
