Browse Features 2024 January - footwearbiz: Leading site for glob

20 December 2024

Work and play - footwearbiz, world footwear

With labour and skills shortages high on the list of challenges facing the shoe industry in Europe, CEC hopes a new game can help bring young people into the sector.

13 December 2024

Web of influence

Sportswear brand On has developed a novel way to create uppers: sprayed from a robotic arm in a matter of minutes.

06 December 2024

Natural progression

Performance cotton brand Ventile is making strides in the footwear sector with its recycled offerings.

29 November 2024

Getting a grip on circularity

Huntsman has set its sights on recyclability with a versatile TPU soling range complementing a so-called first liquid TPU for the footwear industry.

22 November 2024

Ripe for disruption

Innovation hub Fashion for Good, has issued a call for innovators to help it create a more circular footwear supply chain.

15 November 2024

The timeless craft of Cordovan leather

Cordovan leather, often known as "shell cordovan", is celebrated for its exceptional quality and unique craftsmanship, boasting a history that stretches back centuries. The story of this valued material is as...

20 September 2024

Tipping the needle

London’s Future Fabrics Expo curated a separate area for footwear for the first time, as companies speed up commercialisation of ‘next gen’ materials and new manufacturing process are touted.

13 September 2024

A cure for the PFAS problem

Textile finishing specialist (GTT) is taking its PFAS- and water-free Empel textile finishing platform into footwear.

06 September 2024

Paris on a plate

Footwear brand Puma has put a lot into helping athletes prepare for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Reigning 400-metres hurdles champion, Karsten Warholm, is one of those hoping the hard work pays off.

30 August 2024

A solution for a sticky problem

Advances in adhesive technology are opening up new possibilities for recycling athletic shoes.

23 August 2024

In-house expansion

Luxury group Hermès will continue its drive to open new leathergoods factories in France in the next four years. But when it comes to footwear, it will be with partners in Italy that it builds up its in-house...

16 August 2024

The material behind the retro trend

In recent months, a particular style of athletic shoes has experienced a significant resurgence in demand. A look at the material that is helping to make them popular again.

28 June 2024

AI becomes a serious tool

W.L. Gore & Associates believes a recent project involving AI and its versatile Extraguard safety footwear upper material points the way to a huge range of design possibilities.

21 June 2024

How last shape can influence fit

Do you often think about your feet during the day? If the answer is ‘yes’, your shoes probably do not fit properly.

14 June 2024

Swot analysis

A report by the European Chemicals Agency discovered that 8% of footwear failed to comply with single-market chemical regulations in 2022.

07 June 2024

The remarkable foot

Feet are one of the less attractive parts of the body and yet are vital to our very existence.

31 May 2024

No herd mentality

A conservation project in South Dakota has brought life back to the grasslands with the reintroduction of buffalo.

24 May 2024

Supply chain traceability – what’s to hide?

Lily Cuthbertson, Eurofins BLC Leather Technology Centre

17 May 2024

Performance provides the buzz

Changes to materials and construction are crucial in creating shoes that will provide athletes with performance gains. What this means for sustainability strategies is a separate question.

10 May 2024

Biomaterials for footwear

Maria José Ferreira, CTCP/BioShoes4All Consortium, Portugal

03 May 2024

PrimeAsia looks towards a bright future

The leather manufacturer has set out an ambitious new strategy to give its clients access to verified data to weave into their own carbon reduction and sustainability targets.

26 April 2024

A limitless source of raw material

Algae blooms have become a major environmental problem and their explosive growth can be linked to increasing global temperatures and rising pollution.

19 April 2024

Boots for the working woman

Safety footwear entrepreneur Emily Soloby is adding her voice to the call for employers to make sure shoes and boots for women fit properly.

12 April 2024

Answers in Almansa

Footwear materials solutions innovator OrthoLite has completed an expansion project at its European production site in Almansa.

05 April 2024

Mongolian makers gain global platform

A slipper-making project creates much-needed income for families living below the poverty line. The scheme has been backed by Vivobarefoot and is part of its wider remit to support communities through...

22 March 2024

HAPTIC textile coating for footwear

Much like the mobility industry, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Circular Fibres Initiative, the textile industry is a major greenhouse gas emitter and environmental polluter.

15 March 2024

Soft-flowing materials for insoles

Insoles and insocks are extremely versatile footwear components made in a variety of materials and designs.

08 March 2024

Weighing up the gains

Adidas designed the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 to be a staggering 40% lighter than any other shoe, helping to decimate the women’s world record marathon time in the process.

01 March 2024

A rise comes before a fall

Stuart Cleaver. After a promising 2022 the shoe industry had some expectations that 2023 would not be as buoyant.

23 February 2024

Loafers with radical transparency

Footwear brands Sebago and NN.07 have teamed up with Spoor to make a special, traceable version of the Classic Dan loafer.

16 February 2024

21st UITIC International Technical Footwear Congress

UITIC, the international association of footwear technicians, celebrated its 21st Congress last September (19th-22nd) in Milan and Vigevano

Innovative footwear recycling

Borja Mateu, Ana Belén Muñoz and Elena Orgilés INESCOP Footwear Technology Centre