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.
25 October 2021
Doctor’s orders
18 October 2021
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
Since its introduction in the late 1960s, polyurethane (PU) has established itself as an important soling material. It combines excellent physical properties with light weight to produce footwear that is...
06 October 2021
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
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
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
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
Dr Carina Price, University of Salford & Dr Stewart Morrison, University of Brighton
25 August 2021
Slipping and falling
Dr Jean Luc Chaverot, Maryse Garceau, CTC
20 August 2021
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
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
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
Safety footwear styles made an impression on the jury at the German Design Awards 2021.
14 June 2021
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
When the subject of polyureÂthane 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
Eco-efficiency has been proposed as a key tool in promoting a transformation from unsustainable developÂment to one of sustainable development. It is based on the concept of creating more goods and services...
21 May 2021
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
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
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
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
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
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.