Frustrated with overproduction and waste, shoemaker David Solk developed the Fade 101, a sneaker made from compostable materials that will break down safely after use.
CREDIT: SOLK
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02Global News
Highlights from around the world of footwear. For news on shoes every day, go to footwearbiz.com, the best news website in the business.
04Footprints
People making an impact on the industry: designers, industry leaders and famous footwear lovers.
08 Industry & Innovation
Details of innovations from suppliers and service providers across the globe.
10Backtrack
Headlines from footwearbiz.com, summing up the most recent developments in the global footwear sector.
MATERIALS, MANUFACTURING & INNOVATION
12 Solar-powered progress
At the 2025 World Solar Challenge in Australia, Team Sonnenwagen Aachen used specially developed footwear, as well as solar power, to enhance sustainability.
16 From olives to Oxfords
Waste from olive oil production is being transformed into leather for footwear brands, including Tricker’s.
20 Knock on wood
Ten years after entering the footwear market, fibre developer Lenzing is still working to find new ways of bringing wood-based textiles into performance shoes.
24The start-up that puts biomechanics first Movv’s debut models, the Nostara and Solara, promise ligament and bone benefits to runners; the shoes have biomechanics as their starting point.
22 Shoes for the soil
After decades in the industry, David Solk decided to prove that footwear can be fully bio-circular.
ADVERTISER’S INDEX
28The road less travelled Stuart Weitzman picked partners in Spain to help him make his own-name company a success. After some turbulent years for the brand, its new owner, Caleres, has the task of building this mutually beneficial relationship back up.
SALES OFFICES
Global sales: Mat Abbott T (+44) 151 3637600 E matthew@worldtrades.co.uk
India: S Sankaran E indianleather@yahoo.com
Pakistan: Abdul Rab Siddiqi E arsidiqi@yahoo.com
World Trades Publishing 2025
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Global news
Spain Sports brand Joma has launched a new running shoe, the R-1100. It said the shoe would help athletes “maximise their power and explosivity”, especially in events such as 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres, flat and hurdles. With carbon plate technology built in, Spain-based Joma said the new was “perfect for sprinters”. It pointed out that the R-1100 was its first-ever running spikes to use carbon plate technology.
Portugal Portugal’s footwear industry is preparing to expand its role in the defence sector, aiming to double exports of technical footwear to €100 million by 2030. APICCAPS president Luís Onofre said rising defence budgets across NATO countries present “an opportunity” for the industry, which already supplies international security forces. The FAIST project, involving 45 partners, is central to this effort.
Italy Milan hosted the 100th edition of the Micam exhibition from September 7-9. A total of 870 brands took part, 401 from Italy and 469 from other countries, with the biggest representations coming from Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Germany and Portugal. These companies had their spring-summer 2026 collections on show. Organiser, Assocalzaturifici, said it expected 30,000 buyers from 150 different countries to take part.
• Footwear brand Sergio Rossi, part of the Lanvin Group since 2021, reported revenues of €15.3 million for the first six months of 2025, a fall of 25% year on year. The fall in revenues at Sergio Rossi was greater than 50% compared to the same period in 2023. Leathergoods brand Lanvin reported revenues of €27.9 million for the first half of 2025, a fall of 42.2% year on year. At Sergio Rossi, the group said there had been “encouraging signs of recovery” in the second quarter of 2025.
Switzerland Sportswear corporation On reported a 32% year-on-year rise in second-quarter revenue to CHF 749.2 million. The company, backed by tennis champion Roger Federer, credited the growth to booming direct-to-consumer sales, which rose 47% to CHF 308.3 million and accounted for 41% of total revenue. Co-founder and executive co-chair David Allemann said the results confirmed the company’s long-term strategy.
Nigeria A leather-sector processing hub has opened in Lagos. The site, which will produce shoes, bags and belts, is expected to create 10,000 jobs and generate export earnings of $250 million a year, according to local media. Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu said at the opening that the new hub would help artisans to add greater value to their craft and compete in local and international markets.
South Africa The eThekwini Footwear and Leather Cluster in KwaZulu-Natal has hosted its first handbag-making course, supported by The South African Footwear and Leather Export Council (SAFLEC), describing it as “an exciting step towards product diversification and export growth”. The course’s aims include helping footwear manufacturers create new products and creating a more resilient and versatile industry.
Romania Lakeland Industries has shipped a $3.1 million order through its Jolly Scarpe brand for leather boots for the Italian Firefighters Department, designed to meet the technical specifications issued by the brigade. Jim Jenkins, Lakeland’s CEO, said: “Our manufacturing facility in Romania provides high production flexibility, and every detail of the boot was custom-designed to fully meet the Fire Brigade’s requirements.”
US The Materials Show took place in Portland, Oregon on August 27 and 28 with organisers reporting around 270 exhibitors and more than 1,800 visitors on the opening day, including strong representation from major brands. The show marked its 30th anniversary in February, having first launched in 1995. It was followed by the north-east edition of the event in Boston on September 3 and 4. The next editions will take place in March 2026.
• Footwear brand Florsheim has partnered with Chicago-based Horween Leather Company on a six-piece capsule collection for fall 2025. The range features three Florsheim styles, the Renegade Lux Boot, Heist Lux Sneaker and Vibe Lux Oxford, each offered in light and dark versions of Horween’s premium Essex leather. Designs take inspiration from heritage styles and the industrial roots of Chicago, where both companies were founded.
Mexico A sandal that US designer Willy Chavarria developed in collaboration with adidas is the subject of a possible legal complaint from the Mexican government. The slip-on huarache shoe is based on a leather sandal that artisan producers make by hand in Oaxaca. Mr Chavarria has apologised, and said he was sorry not to have developed the project with traditional producers.
Saudi Arabia Sports brand New Balance is accelerating its Middle East expansion, planning 10-12 new stores this year and launching a full omni-channel platform on January 1, 2026. Key markets include Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, India and Morocco, following the opening of its first owned store in Qatar. Recent initiatives have included marketing campaigns featuring Saudi fitness coach Lulwa Al-Marri and comedian Amy Roko alongside global athletes.
China Sports footwear brand Li Ning has confirmed that at the end of the first six months of this year, its total number of stores in China was down slightly. It said that, on June 30, the total number of Li Ning stores in China was 6,099, down by 18 compared to the figure for the end of 2024. The company’s Li Ning Young stores reached a total of 1,435 on June 30, down by 33 compared to the end of last year.
Brazil Organisers of Brazilian footwear exhibition BF Show have said space at the the next edition, which will take place in São Paulo from November 10-12, is already 95% sold out. This will be the fifth edition of the event, which is co-organised by national footwear industry association Abicalçados and NürnbergMesse Brasil. At the most recent edition of the event, in May this year, Abicalçados said 1,200 footwear buyers had attended.
Japan Altra, a VF-owned brand and the maker of low-drop running shoes with an ergonomic toebox to encourage a “natural running form”, has teamed up once again with Japanese urban outdoor brand And Wander. The label was founded in 2011 by two designers, Keita Ikeuchi and Mihoko Mori, who worked for Issey Miyake. The limited-edition version of Altra’s Lone Peak features a graphic motif in autumnal nuances.
• Japanese orthopaedic insole manufacturer BMZ has partnered with Evoco to produce a slim insole using BMZ’s Ashi-Tore system, which targets the cuboid bone to influence mobility, balance, and joint support. Evoco developed a custom foam using its FATES Bio-Foam platform, formulated to provide elasticity, compression recovery, and structural stability in a slim profile.
Footprints
EU and US agreement brings some tariff clarity
Exports from the European Union to the US will incur a baseline tariff of 15%, half the level that US president, Donald Trump, had threatened. Mr Trump met the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on July 27 during a short holiday in Scotland.
After the meeting Ms von der Leyen said a single 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports gave “much-needed clarity for our citizens and businesses”.
She added that the agreement also included zero-for-zero tariffs on a number of strategic products. This includes aircraft, certain chemicals, certain agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials.
She did not specify which products this zero-for-zero arrangement will apply to, but insisted work to add more products to the list would continue.
Assocalzaturifici celebrates 80th anniversary
The Italian footwear sector is marking three anniversaries this year: the 40th anniversary of testing company CIMAC, the 80th anniversary of manufacturers association Assocalzaturifici, and the 100th edition of trade show Micam (September 7-9).
During celebrations for the association’s 80th anniversary, its president, Giovanna Ceolini, said: “In these 80 years, our companies have faced challenges with courage and determination. Our value lies in our people: it is thanks to them that Made in Italy continues to tell stories of beauty, tradition and innovation.”
Her time leading the association has been marked by significant efforts to address the industry’s challenges, especially regarding the issue of tax credits for research and development.
The founding of Confindustria Accessori Moda, which unites footwear, leathergoods, furs and tanneries and is led by Ms Ceolini, has also strengthened representation of the leather supply chain, which now includes 10,000 companies with 140,000 employees. The companies have a joint turnover of €30 billion.
Mexico bans footwear imports
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has announced a ban on the temporary import into the country of finished footwear. Minister for the economy Marcelo Ebrard said an arrangement allowing companies to import shoes into Mexico tax-free for onward shipment to third countries had harmed the domestic industry as the shoes were sold in Mexico. Finished footwear imports grew 159% in volume and by 60% in value in 2024 while the volume and value of shoes produced in Mexico fell around 12%. Mexico’s footwear manufacturing sector lost 11,000 jobs last year.
Data benefits for ASICS
The CEO of ASICS, Yasuhito Hirota, has paid tribute to a senior colleague, Mitsuyuki Tominaga Mr Tominaga completed his first year as president and chief operating officer in 2024, after previously holding the position of chief information officer. According to Mr Hirota, the COO’s experience of working with data has made an immediate difference to the company. He said: “We are making progress with globally-unified, mission-critical systems. As a result, we are gaining a granular, real-time understanding of the state of business in each region, down to each store and product.”
FitFlop
makes product move
FitFlop has appointed Louise Noble as its chief product officer. Ms Noble brings more than 25 years of experience in product development and merchandising, having worked with brands including Nike, C&J Clarks and Vivobarefoot. She most recently held the role of global category director for active lifestyle at Vivobarefoot. During her time there, she led the brand’s entry into the training segment, introduced new approaches to category planning, and oversaw the development of regenerative product creation practices.
PuertoRicotiescontinuebetweenadidas and Bad Bunny
Athletic footwear brand adidas has renewed its partnership with rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also known as Bad Bunny.
A year after its launch of the San Juan version of its Gazelle shoe, celebrating the singer’s home city in Puerto Rico, adidas has now launched a Cabo Rojo version of the shoe, named after another of the island’s municipalities.
The Gazelle first appeared in 1966. It is now part of the adidas Originals line. The brand has said it will continue to celebrate “the deep connection between the artist and his homeland”.
Jobs under threat as trade talks collapse
On July 30, US president, Donald Trump, signed an executive order implementing 50% tariffs on imports from Brazil, to take effect on August 6. The main footwear industry body in the South American country, Abicalçados, described this as a serious set-back that would cause “irreversible damage” to exports of Brazilian footwear.
Executive president of Abicalçados, Haroldo Ferreira, said: “This is a serious situation. It will have a direct impact on the Brazilian footwear industry, for which the US is our main overseas market. But it will also have an impact on thousands of jobs.”
He explained that some footwear manufacturers base their business on export markets, with the US as their main target. He insisted that a 50% tariff will make shipments of shoes to the US economically unviable. “In the first instance, we are talking about the loss of an estimated 8,000 jobs,” he said.
Political support for Packer Leather
A member of Australia’s federal parliament, Emma Comer , has weighed in on the debate about the move away from kangaroo leather by major footwear brands.
Ms Comer, who represents the Queensland division of Petrie, said in a statement in the federal parliament in Canberra on August 25, that a manufacturer of leather in her constituency, Packer Leather, deserved the support of politicians in Australia.
She told members of parliament that Packer Leather had been making world-class leather, including from ethically sourced kangaroo skins, since 1891 but was now “under real pressure”.
She attributed the pressure to a “misinformation campaign” that a Washington DC-based campaign group, Center For A Humane Economy, has carried out to convince footwear brands to end their use of kangaroo leather.
“But here is the truth,” Ms Comer continued. “Kangaroo leather is one of the most sustainable types in the world. It comes from a wild population, not factory farming, and prevents the waste of animal products. It is an industry that supports over 3,000 jobs, many of those in the regions. Kangaroo leather is the world’s strongest for its weight, and it is being replaced by synthetics, contributing to the growing problem of plastics in the environment.”
She went on to say that Australia faces “a real issue” with kangaroo over-population, which is affecting biodiversity. Recent reports in Australia have said that, with no natural predators, the kangaroo population has grown to more than 40 million. Overgrazing by the animals is damaging national parks, harming other species and hurting farmers and food supply hard.
The member of parliament for Petrie insisted it was “undeniably better” to cull the kangaroo population in a regulated way, which minimises suffering for the animal, than to let the over-population problem persist. “Packer Leather has been part of our story for generations,” she concluded. “Let’s make sure it continues to be part of our future.”
Court appearance
Shoes from Y-3, the collaboration between designer Yohji Yamamoto and adidas, were on show on tennis courts for the first time at the 2025 US Open. In all, five classic adidas tennis silhouettes have been “reimagined through the Y-3 lens”, and combine on-court performance with an avant-garde aesthetic, the partners said. Players wearing them included Jessica Pegula, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Sascha Zverev
Canada Goose wants balance
Outdoor brand Canada Goose is adjusting its product offering to become more of an all-seasons brand, chief executive Dani Reiss has said. Recent results show the Toronto-based brand made 45% of annual revenues in winter, and he wants it to become “more balanced”. He said the brand was finding success in its footwear category, which it started in 2021, and is considering bags and luggage.
Puma takes a leap
Miltiadis Tentoglou, twice Olympic gold medal winner in the long jump, has joined the roster of official Puma athletes. At Paris 2024, the Greek athlete became the first person since Carl Lewis to defend an Olympic title successfully. Puma’s director of marketing for athletics, Pascal Rolling, said: “We are excited to support him on and off the track as he continues to push boundaries.”
Nike plans staff cuts
Nike plans to cut less than 1% of its corporate workforce as part of a wider restructuring under chief executive Elliott Hill, according to Reuters. The company said the layoffs, which will not affect its EMEA or Converse businesses, are linked to its move to reorganise into cross-functional teams by sport. Nike currently employs about 77,800 people worldwide. It announced a 2% workforce reduction in February 2024, cutting more than 1,600 jobs.
Industry&Innovation
Zünd to debut Captura Workflow
Cutting systems specialist Zünd will showcase a new level of automation and integration in leather processing at this year’s Simac Tanning Tech trade fair in Milan (September 23-25).
In partnership with software firms Mind and Mindhive Global, the company will present the Captura Workflow for the first time at the event.
Captura combines AI, machine vision and digital cutting in a fully integrated process, aimed at improving the precision, speed and reliability of hide detection, classification and cutting.
Coats announces OrthoLite acquisition
Coats Group has reached a definitive agreement to acquire insole materials manufacturer OrthoLite. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Coats gave an initial value of $770 million for the deal.
This could rise by a further $10 million depending on OrthoLite’s revenues in 2025. OrthoLite has confirmed that its open-cell foam technology brand Cirql is also part of the deal.
Coats said it believes bringing OrthoLite into the group will also offer the opportunity to make $20 million in annual cost savings by 2028. It expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter of this year.
Following its acquisition of Texon and Rhenoflex in 2022, Coats developed a strategy to become what it has called a “super tier-two supplier for footwear components”. It said its acquisition now of OrthoLite represented a “compelling strategic fit” and would accelerate this plan, “significantly strengthening the existing Coats footwear business through expansion into the attractive, high-growth premium insole segment”.
Group chief executive, David Paja, said the combination of Coats and OrthoLite was “fantastic news” for both companies and for the footwear industry. “It brings together two global leaders with a shared vision for innovation and sustainability,” he added.
For his part, OrthoLite founder and chief executive, Glenn Barrett, said the deal would provide a platform for OrthoLite and Cirql to continue to serve customers “with the most innovative and sustainable footwear components in the world”.
Footwear first for Circ
Shoe brand Allbirds has teamed up with Blumaka, which converts recycled foam into footwear components, and with textile-to-textile recycler Circ to create two Remix styles: the Runner NZ Remix and Cruiser Remix. The companies have estimated that the footwear industry generates 344,000 tonnes of waste annually for midsole foam alone. This would be enough material to craft 2.5 billion new midsoles, yet much of it goes unused. The Remix styles are the first footwear to use textile-to-textile recycled polycotton waste from Circ’s proprietary hydrothermal recycling process. This process separates and recovers cotton and polyester fibres from blended garments.
Stella boosts capacity
Footwear group Stella International has reported revenues of $775.1 million for the first six months of 2025, a 0.7% increase over the same period last year. The Hong Kong-based group shipped around 27.5 million pairs of shoes, an increase of 3.8%. Stella intends to increase its annual production capacity by around 20 million pairs. This would take the group’s footwear production to almost 75 million pairs per year.
WFSGI partners Intertek
The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) has set up a strategic partnership with quality assurance services provider Intertek. It said working with Intertek would allow it to offer “a centralised, effective, and future-ready product-compliance solution”. WFSGI chief executive, Emma Zwiebler, said: “By harnessing Intertek’s extensive expertise and global reach, we can offer unparalleled support, empowering our members to navigate complex regulatory landscapes and uphold the highest standards of quality.”
OrthoLite debuts breathable slow-recovery foam
Footwear comfort specialist OrthoLite has launched SloMo, a slow-recovery, breathable memory foam designed to deliver enhanced fit, adaptive pressure relief and improved airflow.
Building on the success of Eco-Impressions and Lazy, SloMo responds to rising demand for premium, customised comfort across lifestyle, fashion and performance footwear.
OrthoLite said the new formulation elevates the functional and sensory performance of memory foam, helping brands differentiate their products.
Powered by the company’s open-cell PU technology, SloMo offers consistent energy return and optimised recovery times.
Available in die-cut and moulded constructions, it can be used as a singleor dual-layer solution and in linings, tongues and other shoe components to create a 360-degree comfort experience.
Founder and CEO Glenn Barrett said: “With SloMo, we’re pushing the boundaries of what memory foam can deliver, empowering footwear brands to meet evolving expectations with precision and innovation.”
OrthoLite presented SloMo at the Materials Show in Portland and Boston, and can also be seen at Lineapelle in Milan this September.
USeventsshowcaseDSCinnovations
Performance foam developer Dahsheng Company (DSC) presented its latest innovation, Dreamcell Velo, at the summer editions of the Materials Show, in Portland in August, and Boston in early September.
The poured polyurethane (PU) insole is designed to give athletes an advantage in speed, agility and energy return. DSC said the new material is its lightest poured PU insole technology to date, combining an ultra-low weight with a low compression set to help preserve energy transfer during repeated use. The company also underlined that its direct-pour process produces minimal material waste.
Chief operating officer Mei-Fen Wei said Dreamcell Vello was developed to meet the performance needs of elite athletes in sports where “every gramme matters”.
Courtsuccess forindustryinGermany
German leather industry association VDL has won an important court case. It successfully challenged a company’s use of the term ‘leather’ in products made from synthetic material.
Under competition laws in Germany, some trade associations have the authority to issue legal warnings to companies whose marketing messages are likely to mislead or confuse consumers. VDL earned the right to take that action in 2023.
It exercised this right in a case against a company called Mina Merchandising GmbH, which was selling dog collars made from synthetic material marketed as ‘apple leather’.
Mina Merchandising is a company founded by Martin Rütter, a well known television personality, speaker and writer who specialises in dog-training.
The company first received a formal warning from VDL about its misuse of the term ‘leather’, but Mina Merchandising ignored it. This brought the matter to court.
A first-instance court initially rejected VDL’s case, but the leather industry organisation appealed. At the start of July, the Higher Regional Court in Cologne heard the appeal and found in VDL’s favour.
The court said the term ‘leather’ may only be used when a product is made entirely or partially from animal hide. It also said that using the term ‘apple leather’ for products that contain no leather was deceptive and unlawful.
VDL managing director, Andreas Meyer, commented: “We are not opposed to new materials, but we do not want these materials to be referred to as leather. To do so would be to mislead consumers.”
Zegna factory under way
Fashion brand Zegna is building a footwear and leathergoods production facility at Sala Baganza, near Parma in Italy. When complete, the site will cover 12,500 square-metres and will employ 300 people. In comments to Rome-based daily newspaper La Repubblica, chief executive Gildo Zegna, grandson of the company’s founder, said when the new site is fully operational, it will make half of its footwear there.
Progress in bio-based polyurethanes
Algenesis Labs has launched Bio-Iso, an isocyanate, which is said to be used in the production of polyurethane. The company, established in 2016 and based in San Diego, first developed a biodegradable TPU, Soleic, made from plant-based oils, which has reached commercial scale. A pilot plant for Bio-Iso has been commissioned and the manufacturing method is said to avoid phosgene, which requires special precautions, thus offering a safer and more flexible pathway to the chemical compound.
‘New era’ at Under Armour
Sports group Under Armour has said it was “stepping into a new era of footwear” with a new collection, Halo. The brand’s double-arch logo is integrated into the design and has become part of the shoes’ structure. The shoes also incorporate proprietary Hovr foam for energy return and impact absorption.
Carmina invests in logistics Mallorca-based high-end shoe manufacturer Carmina is constructing a new logistics hub close to its factory in the footwear-focused town of Inca. It said it is now shipping its shoes to customers in 120 countries and that the new logistics hub would help it keep growing. In addition, Carmina will open own-brand stores to add to those it already has in Palma, Barcelona, Madrid, New York and San Francisco. .
Backtrack
08 September 2025
Tough first half for Italy’s shoe manufacturers
South Africa: Handbag course could upskill shoemakers
05 September 2025
Slim high-performance insole by BMZ and Evoco
Steep falls in H1 revenues at Sergio Rossi and Lanvin
04 September 2025
New Balance expands Middle East athletic footwear market
03 September 2025
Boston summit bears fruit for New Balance
02 September 2025
September date for 3G Capital’s acquisition of Skechers to complete
01 September 2025
Nike plans corporate staff reduction
29 August 2025
Puma celebrates English tannery
27 August 2025
Europe boost for Mizuno
A second shoe from Movv is on the way
26 August 2025
Guangzhou and Vietnam exhibitions report solid numbers
21 August 2025
Footwear acceleration at Salomon boosts Amer Sports
20 August 2025
Birkenstock posts strong profit growth
Direct-to-consumer investment brings dip for Manolo Blahnik
19 August 2025
Fall in revenues for Stuart Weitzman as Caleres completes acquisition
18 August 2025
Golf shoe revenues down at Acushnet
Tokyo colours and energy inspire ASICS
Footwearbiz’s publishing cycle and limitations on space make it impossible for us to run more than a carefully selected sample of news from across the industry. However, we publish hundreds more stories on www.footwearbiz.com. The site is updated every day with news from every continent and every part of the industry, making footwearbiz.com one of the most comprehensive archives of news anywhere on the web for the global footwear industry.
We list below just a few of the headlines that have appeared on the site in recent weeks — www.footwearbiz.com allows you to read the news items you may have missed.
15 August 2025
Mexico clamps down on footwear imports
Global growth boosts Brooks Running
14 August 2025
Pause welcome, but China tariffs still too high, AAFA says
13 August 2025
Weak demand weighs on Bata India
12 August 2025
Skechers Q2 sales beat forecast
08 August 2025
Strongest revenue growth in years at Wolverine
07 August 2025
Capri Holdings reports Q1 revenue decline
06 August 2025
Brazilian shoe firms to press ahead at US shows
CSR report shows leather’s ongoing importance for ISA Group
05 August 2025
Caleres completes acquisition of Stuart Weitzman
04 August 2025
‘Channel rationalisation’ at Vans holds back VF growth
Short-term tariff pause for Mexico
01 August 2025
Adidas to raise prices in the US but maintains outlook
31 July 2025
H1 revenues down by 1.5% at BASF
Tariffs weigh on Steve Madden’s Q2 performance
30 July 2025
Start-up shoe developer says its footwear can help prevent injuries
Declines for Italy’s shoe sector in first quarter
29 July 2025
Increased customer demand will drive ramp-up in production at Stella
28 July 2025
Ugg and Hoka drive strong Q1 growth for Deckers
25 July 2025
China: footwear exports fall in value, but leather shoes fare better
24 July 2025
LaunchPad competition to fast-track innovation
Brazilian delegation heads to Lima for leather and footwear event
22 July 2025
PrimeAsia unveils new sustainability strategy
18 July 2025
Portuguese footwear industry outperforms European peers
16 July 2025
Aku celebrates athletes’ connection to the mountains
15 July 2025
US threatens EU with 30% tariff rate
Sustainability race
Close partnership between polymer materials company Covestro and textiles technology group Huafeng has been going on for two years now. Their work together recently delivered highperformance, more sustainable footwear for Team Sonnenwagen Aachen to wear during the 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia. This event is a race for solar-powered cars, designed and driven by university teams from different parts of the world. This year, cars left Darwin on August 24 to drive more than 3,000 kilometres to Adelaide. The team from Aachen finished fourth overall with a time of just over 36.5 hours
Partnership purpose
Team Sonnenwagen Aachen was one of more than 50 teams in the race this time, driving a car called the Covestro Aethon. The teams represent internationally renowned universities, including, in this case, RWTH Aachen University and FH Aachen, with the aim of promoting and publicising research and development in the field of solar mobility, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in more sustainable transport.
Covestro has been working with Huafeng since 2023 on what the partners have called a ‘sustainability transformation’. Fruits of the partnership now include footwear that a team from Germany wore in a special car race this August.
Based in Leverkusen, just 100 kilometres away from RWTH Aachen, Covestro has sponsored Team Sonnenwagen Aachen since 2017. For the 2025 event, it invited Huafeng to take part, too, with a view to intensifying their commitment to sustainability, with a particular focus on developing high-performance footwear. The shoes that have come out of this joint effort have a significantly reduced environmental impact, with no compromise on quality or functionality, Covestro has stated.
Huafeng used partially bio-based Impranil CQ polyurethane dispersion products from Covestro to develop the ink that makes customisation of shoes and apparel more sustainable.
CREDIT: 2025 HUAFENG
Mounting pressure
“The footwear industry faces mounting pressure to reduce its environmental footprint while maintaining high performance standards,” the polymer materials company continues. “While waterborne solutions have already made significant strides in reducing emissions compared to solvent-based alternatives, the industry is now facing additional challenges.” It lists the main ones as further reducing carbon emissions across manufacturing processes, increasing the use of biobased content and recycled materials, maintaining durability and performance standards under extreme conditions, meeting growing consumer and regulatory demand for more sustainable products, and achieving all of these goals without compromise on design capabilities or performance.
The footwear that Huafeng developed, using Covestro’s partially bio-based PU dispersions for the printing inks, for Team Sonnenwagen to wear in the 2025 World Solar Challenge directly addresses these challenges, the partners insist, and could offer a blueprint for the future of athletic footwear manufacturing.
Shoe design and materials
The uppers in the shoes for Team Sonnenwagen were produced using 100% recycled polyester yarns from Huafeng’s yarn partner Cyclone. These materials come from PET bottles collected in Fujian and other nearby Chinese provinces, utilising plastic waste that might otherwise end up in landfill or even in the marine environment.
Huafeng has used the yarns to develop a special lightweight material that allows shoe construction largely without additional lining material. This approach reduces the overall weight of the polyester material by approximately 30%, resulting in what Covestro has called “significantly higher material efficiency” compared to the shoes the Aachen team used during the last edition of the race in 2023.
“ This demonstrates the rich potential for sportswear manufacturers to design customised products with a reduced carbon footprint. ”
DR
TORSTEN POHL, COVESTRO
Advanced manufacturing processes
The environmental benefits extend beyond materials to encompass the entire manufacturing process, the polymer materials company continues. The fabric used in the shoes is manufactured on modern knitting machines powered by approximately 50% solar energy. This solar energy is generated directly from panels installed on the factory roof, creating a fitting synergy with Team Sonnenwagen’s solar racing mission.
Arguably the most innovative part of production is the colouring process. Cyclone uses a dope-dyeing process for its rPET yarns, reducing the volumes of wastewater typically generated during dyeing. Compared to traditional dyeing techniques, this dopedyeing technology saves 57% energy, 77% water, and reduces carbon emissions by 51% throughout the process. These figures come from a 2021 assessment of Cyclone’s operations that testing, inspection and certification provider SGS carried out.
Bio-based customisation
Customisation in footwear manufacturing represents a growing market trend, and the Team Sonnenwagen shoes showcase how this can be achieved more sustainably. Huafeng’s Haptic Art ink is used to decorate the shoes, enabling artistic and threedimensional colour effects on the finished product.
The Haptic Art ink is made using partially bio-based
Impranil CQ polyurethane dispersion, which belongs to the waterborne Insqin textile coating technology from Covestro. It says this results in approximately 50% biocarbon content in the dried ink. No other resins are blended in. The partially bio-based Impranil has a 38% lower carbon footprint compared to standard grade Impranil, it points out, demonstrating how partially biobased alternatives can reduce a product’s carbon footprint without compromising on quality or aesthetic possibilities. This percentage comes from in-house calculations Covestro has conducted.
Under extreme conditions
The World Solar Challenge presents some of the most demanding conditions for both vehicles and team members. Temperatures in the Australian outback can reach extreme levels, even in winter, and team members need gear that can withstand these conditions while providing comfort and protection.
The lightweight, breathable construction of the footwear developed for Team Sonnenwagen addresses these challenges directly. The elimination of unnecessary lining material not only reduces weight and material usage but also enhances breathability, crucial for maintaining comfort in high-temperature environments. In addition, the shoes, in the words of Team Sonnenwagen Aachen’s head of marketing, Charlotte Teckentrup, “look awesome”. She adds: “We are proud to race with the support of Huafeng, Cyclone and Covestro because they really care about sustainability, just like we do.”
Holistic approach
While footwear represents the centrepiece of the collaboration, it forms part of a comprehensive solution for more sustainable sportswear. Huafeng also provided the team with shorts and trousers that are primarily made of rPET, with small amounts of
stretch yarn for enhanced comfort. The design is applied to the clothing by screen printing Huafeng’s Haptic printing paste, which also contains the partly bio-based Impranil CQ polyurethane dispersion.
The steering wheel of the solar vehicle itself features a textile coating based on the partially bio-based Impranil CQ products, demonstrating how more sustainable textile solutions can extend beyond sportswear to functional components.
This holistic approach showcases how enhanced sustainability can be integrated throughout a team’s equipment and vehicle components, the partners say, creating a comprehensive solution that addresses environmental concerns at multiple levels.
Industry standards
The collaboration between Covestro and Huafeng for Team Sonnenwagen could be a demonstration of how the wider footwear industry can respond to increasing demands for sustainability without compromising on performance or design. By combining recycled materials, partially bio-based components, more energy-efficient manufacturing and innovative construction techniques, the partnership has created athletic footwear that can serve as an example to others.
“We are delighted that Impranil CQ is part of Huafeng’s innovative textile coating solutions,” says Dr Torsten Pohl, head of global textile coatings at Covestro. “This demonstrates the rich potential for sportswear manufacturers to design customised products with a reduced carbon footprint.”
For Dr Thomas Schmidt, director of innovation at Huafeng, putting partially bio-based Impranil CQ solutions into an innovation such as the Haptic Art ink offers extensive customisability of high-performance textiles for use in shoes, sportswear and other products.
Team Sonnenwagen Aachen solar-powered vehicle for the 2025 race, the Covestro Aethon.
CREDIT: 2025 TEAM SONNENWAGEN AACHEN
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ALL CREDITS: TRICKER
German innovation meets English shoemaking
When Joseph Tricker established his Northampton footwear business in 1829, sustainability was not necessarily a word he would have recognised. Leather shoes, however, were inherently durable, repairable, and designed to last. Nearly two centuries later, Tricker’s continues to make its footwear entirely in Northampton, relying on traditional construction techniques while at the same time introducing new materials that respond to modern environmental demands. One of the most significant of these materials is Olivvia leather, the result of a German innovation in tanning. Developed by wet-green GmbH, Olivvia is based on Olivenleder, a patented tanning process that uses extracts from olive leaves, a byproduct of the Mediterranean olive oil industry. Olivenleder is the product of more than a decade of research and development in southern Germany. A leather technology company called wet-green was spun off by former members of the team at the influential centre for leather education, the Lederinstitut Gerberschule, which closed in 2011. Using extracts from waste olive leaves, normally burnt or discarded, wet-green created a fully organic tanning agent that avoids heavy metals, chromium, and other substances often associated with conventional leather manufacture. Free of any hazardous classification, the resulting leathers also produce organic cuttings and shavings that can be used as compost or fertiliser. Tricker’s began working with Olivvia leather in 2017.
Founded in 1829, Tricker’s has always produced durable, repairable footwear in Northampton. Today, it combines traditional construction with modern, environmentally conscious materials such as Olivvia leather, a German innovation that uses olive-leaf extracts, a by-product of olive oil production.
Burford ConsTruct Derby Boot in Olivenleder Buffalo Leather, handmade in Northampton using olive-leaf tanned, fully traceable leather.
After two years of technical adjustments in its St Michael’s Road factory, the company was ready to introduce it into some of its most iconic products.
Classic shoes, new leathers
Initially offered in a revival of a bespoke last produced in 1950 for an Austrian general as part of its autumn-winter 2017 collection, other styles soon followed. Among them were the Burford and Stow boots, two iconic styles that had confirmed Tricker’s as a country shoemaker. They now appeared in new Olivvia finishes, including acorn, burnt sugar nubuck, and a milled tan calf. Later, versions in buffalo nubuck, with its naturally strong grain, further displayed the durability and patina potential of the leather.
David Jeffery, sales director at Tricker’s, told Footwearbiz: “We continue to work with Olivvia leathers and have recently added Olivvia nubuck and buffalo to our collection. Olivvia deerskin remains very popular, and we’re always exploring new ways to use this unique tanning process.”
He added that while volumes are steady, the strategic importance of the material is clear. “The original 2017 projection for Olivvia leather use was around 10%, and we are still at that level. But what’s most important is how the partnership has evolved, bringing innovation and sustainability into our traditional craftsmanship.”
Market reception and environmental positioning
Around 80% of Tricker’s production is exported, with Japan, Italy, and the United States its strongest markets. Feedback on the Olivvia models has been positive, with customers noting the leather’s distinctive feel and its ability to hold appearance over time. For a premium footwear brand whose message is built on longevity and repairability, adding an innovative, low-impact tanning method strengthens an already credible sustainability narrative. This collaboration also reflects a broader European trend towards biobased and innovative tanning systems (see Footwearbiz issue 3, 2025). In an industry under increasing pressure from EU legislation,
including the Eco-design framework and the Deforestation Regulation, innovations, like Olivenleder, offer brands a possible route to measurable reductions in environmental impact.
A new chapter under Silvateam
In early 2024, Italian vegetable extract specialist, Silvateam, acquired the Olivenleder brand. Silvateam has long been an innovator in natural tannin development, supplying the global tanning industry with extracts from chestnut, quebracho, and other plant sources. Its purchase of Olivenleder signals intent to broaden the reach of olive-based tanning and to embed it within a larger portfolio of biobased solutions. The Italian company views Olivenleder as an ideal complement to its Ecotan range of technologies. Both involve the use of only 100% bio-based, natural products in the making of leather.
For Tricker’s, this transition provides assurance that the material will continue to be supported and scaled by a company with both heritage and a global presence. The German innovation that gave rise to Olivenleder is now set to reach a wider audience through Italian stewardship.
Balancing heritage and innovation
For nearly two centuries, Tricker’s has been a symbol of Northampton’s shoemaking tradition. Its adoption of the sustainable tannage shows that heritage brands can, and must, evolve to stay relevant. Olivenleder managing partner Thomas Lamparter expressed the hope that sustainability will become the norm for future generations, and Tricker’s move reflects this vision. Proof that Northampton craftsmanship and German innovation can work hand in hand.
Tricker’s factory at 56–60 St. Michael’s Road, Northampton, has been in operation since 1904 and continues to produce footwear using traditional methods.
Where footwear innovation meets expert insights
The new area Footwear Workshops & Exchange is a hub for hands-on knowledge and professional development. Expert-led sessions, supported by PFI Pirmasens and SATRA, provide valuable insights into material testing, EU regulations, and the impact of sustainable choices on performance and durability.
More to explore at the Footwear Forum & Tech Hub
Of course there will be again a handpicked selection of the best footwear materials and forward-thinking concepts that are shaping the future of responsible design in the Footwear Forum. In partnership with SATRA, the new footwear Tech Hub features live testing machines and offers a close-up look at the latest testing technologies and performance standards in the industry.
Networking with footwear industry experts
To dive deep into the latest in materials, design, and sustainability, PERFORMANCE DAYS has teamed up with a group of proven industry experts including Defne Yalkut and Richard Kuchinsky sponsored by framas. They will also lead interactive sessions, showing how combining sustainability and high performance is one of the biggest and most exciting challenges in today’s footwear industry. Both combine usercentric design with a deep understanding of material performance, functionality, and sustainable thinking.
Exclusive Interview with Richard Kuchinsky and Defne Yalkut
In this interview, Defne and Richard share their perspective on the current state of the industry, the need for meaningful innovation, and the unique value of open dialogue at events like PERFORMANCE DAYS.
What goals do you share with PERFORMANCE DAYS in pushing innovation in the footwear industry?
Richard: “For me, innovation starts with problem-solving. It’s easy to make something different. But making something better—that’s the hard part. Innovation should always start with the why: What problem are we solving? Who are we solving it for? Why does the product exist? The best innovations, in my opinion, are driven by experience— either from athletes or real users. That’s a lot more meaningful than simply asking, “Here’s a new material— what can we do with it?”
Defne, what can participants expect from your session “Smarter Soles, Smaller Footprints”? Why is sustainable sole design such a timely and important topic?
Defne: “Participants will gain insight into the full journey from materials to manufacturing — understanding how to make soles as sustainable as possible. The sole is not only the largest component of a shoe but also the most complex and the one with the greatest environmental impact. The sole industry faces numerous challenges, from raw material sourcing to mold production. It's time to bring more awareness and smarter solutions to this essential element of footwear.”
ADVERTORIAL
At PERFORMANCE DAYS from 29-30
October 2025 in Munich footwear will get its own area again. Visitors of the sustainable sourcing fair for functional fabrics and accessories will get a deep dive into the future of footwear with highlights like cutting-edge innovations and exciting new formats like the area Footwear Workshops & Exchange.
Why is it crucial for designers to attend events like PERFORMANCE DAYS regularly?
Richard: “Because of the variety of viewpoints and inspiration. You don’t get that depth of interaction online. At PERFORMANCE DAYS, we have panel discussions, lectures, informal meetups—and that creates an environment for real exchange.
Also, you often discover something unexpected. You might go in looking for a footwear solution and come across an idea from apparel or accessories that sparks something new. That’s the beauty of a physical show.”
Richard Kuchinsky is the Founder of The Directive Collective, a footwear design consultancy specializing in performance running and innovation.
With over 25 years of industry experience, he has led design and development for global brands, blending strategic vision with technical execution from concept to commercialization.
A 5-time Boston Qualifier with a marathon PR of 2:50:39, Richard brings a runner’s perspective to every project. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his family.
Where do you see the biggest challenges but also the most promising opportunities for implementing circular design in footwear?
Defne: “The biggest challenge is human greed — the drive to produce for less and sell for more. I’m not a circularity expert, but I believe real circular design requires a consumer base that genuinely cares and is willing to support sustainable products. Unfortunately, most consumers still prioritize low prices. It’s a vicious cycle. The opportunity lies in shifting consumer behavior and proving that circularity can be both feasible and desirable.”
How important is the exchange between designers, brands, and material suppliers for the industry's development?
Richard: “It’s essential. That’s what makes a show like PERFORMANCE DAYS so valuable. In-person interaction is irreplaceable. You get to touch materials, feel products, and have real conversations—over a coffee, a beer, whatever. That connection leads to better understanding and better design. You can’t get that from a Zoom call.”
Your workshop “Eco-Sole Challenge: Rethink, Reuse, Recreate” sounds highly interactive. Can you share what the hands-on experience will look like and what key takeaways attendees can expect?
Defne: “After exploring strategies to reduce environmental impact in sole design, participants will use a “sustainability map” of materials and production steps to rethink and redesign some of the most unsustainable sole examples — all on paper. They’ll work with sustainability kits that include various material and concept components. We'll share the results on-screen, open up the conversation, and give feedback. Attendees will leave with a clear, practical guide on how to reduce the footprint of their soles while still being creative.”
What can participants expect from the workshops in the new Footwear Area at PERFORMANCE DAYS? What topics will you cover?
Richard: “I’ll be focusing on innovation through iteration. For me, it’s all about evolving a design—not just doing one round and calling it finished, but going through multiple versions, testing, tweaking, and learning. Today, many designers work digitally—on screens, in 3D software—and while that has huge benefits, it can also short-circuit the deeper process. You don’t get that same learning unless you make physical samples, wear them, try them, and revise them. That’s what I want to highlight. Faster isn’t always better. Easier isn’t always better.”
Defne Yalkut is the owner of DYdesign, a Milan-based design studio offering design and trend consultancy services for technical and athletic footwear.
Though her background is in Fine Arts, with a focus on Textile and Fashion Design, her true passion for footwear began at an early age. That passion led her into the industry over 20 years ago, starting with 12 years as a senior designer at Vibram, where she became an expert in sole design and development across all segments.
Beyond creating functional and innovative footwear, Defne’s deeper purpose lies in teaching. With over a decade of experience in education, she founded the Sole Design Academy, an online platform that helps footwear professionals of all levels master the craft of sole design and manufacturing, while becoming more mindful creators who leave a lighter footprint on the planet
You’re not only a designer but also an educator. Why is it so important for you to raise awareness around sustainable design thinking among the next generation of footwear professionals?
Defne: “I’m encouraged to see that Gen Z is already much more conscious of environmental issues. They value ecosustainability more deeply than previous generations — who, quite frankly, contributed heavily to the problems we face today across industries. Raising awareness among the next generation is crucial because they’re not only the future professionals but also the future consumers — and they’re increasingly demanding more responsible products.”
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your experience as a footwear designer?
Richard: “Sample, sample, sample. You can never have too many rounds of samples. Of course, at some point, you have to call it finished—but the more samples and test rounds you go through, the better the result. There’s no shortcut.”
How are alternative materials and emerging technologies shaping the future of the footwear industry — and which developments are you most excited about right now?
Defne: “I'm particularly excited about bio-based and biodegradable materials. They offer huge potential for the future — although they are still relatively expensive, they’re moving us in the right direction.”
If you could send one key message to the footwear industry, what would it be?
Defne: “We don’t need thousands of styles, colors, and limited editions. Let’s focus on producing less, producing smarter — and creating less waste.”
The SuperNatural Runner is made with 75% natural materials. “We’ve had lots of successes in this shoe, and we’re happy to share these with the industry,” says Circle Sportswear co-founder Solene Roure.
CREDIT: CIRCLE SPORTSWEAR
A decadeofdiscoveries
“Ihad no idea lyocell and Tencel were made from wood when I first started designing a shoe,” admits Circle Sportswear’s co-founder and creative director, Solene Roure. “We talk so much about them in the industry, but most people don’t know what they’re made of.”
Partnership purpose
This year marks 10 years since Austria-based Lenzing made its first forays into the footwear sector, and the occasion was marked at the most recent Future Fabrics Expo in London with the launch of three novel shoes underpinned with its fibres. French brand Circle presented the SuperNatural Runner, which uses an upper blended with 50% lyocell – the first time it has been used in a filament form in this way by a footwear brand. Solk presented a “compost compatible” shoe (see separate feature) with Lenzing fibre laces, and Modern Synthesis produced a concept shoe called Korvaa, with the upper ‘grown’ from nanocellulose, with Lenzing's lyocell used in a non-woven form to provide structure. Lenzing’s Tencel lyocell and modal are regenerated cellulosic fibres made from wood. The wood pulp is dissolved – the lyocell production process only uses an
Lenzing’s innovations in the footwear sector means its woodbased products have multiple uses for shoes, with Circle Sportswear the first to use its lyocell filament for an upper.
organic solvent, and the recovery rate is more than 99 percent – then cellulosic fibres are produced in the appropriate shape, length and diameter for the application. The company’s fibres are known for adding softness and comfort in clothes – not attributes usually associated with shoes – and this leads to misconceptions, its head of technical developments, Nicole Schram, tells Footwearbiz. “It would not be the first material people think of for footwear, because it’s so well positioned as a soft and cosy material, with next-to-skin properties,” she says. “But it really depends on the construction. It’s my job to think about
application development, how the materials blend and how they scale.”
While currently a small proportion of Lenzing’s sales, the applications in the footwear sector are “very innovative”, she tells us. As well as being used for shoe uppers in a woven or non-woven form, its products can be used in laces, insoles, linings, zips and sewing threads, and even blended into outsoles in a powder form.
Lenzing says the lyocell filament yarns are among the strongest cellulosics and that they have a high tenacity profile, which enables them to withstand fast production speeds. “Tencel fibres and filaments are a good match for the footwear industry as they offer thermal regulation and moisture management as well as sustainability credentials, such as biodegradability and traceability,” Schram commented at Future Fabrics Expo.
Circle for Circle
CREDIT: FUTURE FABRICS EXPO 2025
Incoming regulations and pressure for less impactful products mean circular options are increasingly sought after, particularly given the difficulties around recycling shoes. This was one of the appeals of Tencel for Circle when it came to producing its first shoe. The team wanted to approach footwear design in a new way, and after working for four years with suppliers, produced a product that is 75% natural materials. “The turnaround of running shoes is insane, and there is no second-hand market, so it normally just goes to landfill and turns into microplastics,” explains Ms Roure. “I wanted to show sustainability can be more exciting, and I wanted to bring the joy back.”
The shoe’s upper is 50% wool and 50% lyocell filament. To create it, Lenzing worked with Coats Footwear, formed following the merger of Texon and Rhenoflex in 2023, using Texon’s ProWeave jacquard technology. The technique makes it possible to integrate multiple functions into a single sheet of material, creating different elasticity, tenacity and abrasion zones within the same weave.
The external reinforcements in the SuperNatural Runner, the eyelets and foxing, the strip securing the joint were upper and cell meet, are made from Mirum, a non-woven produced in the
US using natural rubber, plant oils and natural pigments. The laces are made from organic cotton while the insole is made in Portugal from natural fibres, natural rubber and merino wool. The midsole is made from with 45% biobased content from castor beans using a supercritical foaming process while the outsole is made from 70% bio-based rubber.
There are also minimal adhesives with no heat-bonded components. At the end of its life, its adhesive can be reheated, allowing for easier disassembly. “The disassembly part is a concept at this point as the shoes are new,” admits Ms Roure, “but it was designed to make this easier. We want it to be separated into three parts and we are testing this with partners. We won’t crack the recycling on our own, but when the systems are in place, our shoe won’t be difficult to take apart.”
The companies at Future Fabrics did not specifically mention their coatings, but one would be necessary if the shoes are to be made waterproof. There are many on the market, as well as bio-based offerings, for instance from Germany’s Rudolf, which would not detract from the biodegradable and natural stance.
Partners push progress
Ms Roure speaks highly of working with Lenzing’s team on the journey to finding the right materials, and Ms Schram echoes that working with footwear brands has also led to novel uses of its fibres: previous tie-ups include with Recyc Leather for a material that fuses lyocell with recycled leather in Danish brand Ganni’s slouchy boot, and a project with Ananas Anam, which makes fibres from pineapple leaf waste, creating the Sustainable Knit Trainer for Calvin Klein. Adidas and Allbirds also selected an upper made with 30% Tencel for their Futurecraft.Footprint launched in 2021 – a running shoe with a CO2 footprint of just 2.3 kilograms per pair.
“We find collaborations very inspiring, and we always work with companies that match our philosophy and business model,” concludes Ms Schram, adding that each collaboration boosts research and development and opens new avenues and new solutions. “You can’t be an expert in everything –we have massive expertise in fibres, but we need partners to make these products happen.”
Future Fabrics Expo in London provided a platform for Lenzing-using shoe launches as part of its Footwear Hub.
Complex journey to biocircularity
David Solk is frustrated with the footwear industry. Now in his fifth decade in the shoemaking business – starting at his father’s factory in England, through to co-founding an outsource company in Vietnam – he says the big brands have created a model where increasing margins have left the sector “a bit broken”. With a focus on a five- or six-times mark-up from the manufacturer, the lead times are too long, there is too much inventory, too much waste and too many markdowns, he says. “A huge barrier to change is that brands don’t make anything themselves. The industry has lost that.”
Feeling disillusioned, David and Irmi Kreuzer wanted to use their experience to show how things could be done better. Their journey together began in 1992 while both were working at adidas, where David led product development teams in Asia and helped establish operations in China and Vietnam. After nearly a decade there, he and Irmi took a leap. In 2003, they founded Shoefabrik, a production company that became a partner for more than 20 brands including
After decades of looking after Asian manufacturing for big brands, David Solk and Irmi Kreuzer ploughed their resources and experience into creating a shoe in which every element has been selected for its ability to decompose – and they are looking for likeminded partners.
Helly Hansen, On Running and Zara, offering services from concept to final production. Inspired by Patagonia’s pioneering approach in the mid-2000s, their team worked with clients to integrate more sustainable materials and processes into footwear manufacturing. But when the financial crisis of 2008 hit, priorities shifted and momentum stalled. Irmi says: “For us, it reached a point where we felt we had two choices: take a leap to help change the industry or consider stepping away from it entirely.”
This leap has landed on biocircularity – a way of approaching the shoe that takes into consideration all aspects from design to end of life – and the Solk Fade 101. Owning their own facility meant they had the ability to work flexibly, with extra research and development, and without the usual business constraints, explains David. They financed the project themselves, so they would not need to answer to backers or shareholders. “The first idea was to create a beautiful, desirable product: if consumers desire it, they will buy it, and that will lead to change,” he says. “The next important factor was that would be ultimately harmless. And that was the hardest thing. We have one rule: everything needs to be compost-capable.”
The aim was to complete the project in two years, but creating almost every element of the shoe from a biodegradable material was more difficult than they had anticipated, even with all their knowledge. It ultimately ended up taking six years. David describes it as a very long and challenging journey – “and I’m a shoe technician, so I thought I’d be able to get there faster. Being a 100% biocircular brand is difficult as even organic cotton might have softeners and finishes that aren’t biodegradable. So, it was a question of
David Solk is using his know-how of shoe making to show there is a less impactful way to produce shoes, when it comes to end-of-life.
SOLK
working very closely with the vendors, and those that were willing to be transparent. The challenges were so great that we ended up partnering some European vendors, even though we are based in Vietnam.”
Solk’s headquarters are now in Switzerland and, as well as the factory in Ho Chi Minh, it runs its own composting facility in Germany. “Solk is our real family name: short, distinctive and easy to say in any language. We held onto it for over 30 years, waiting for the right moment to use it for something we truly believe in,” says David.
Nature’s bounty
The Solk Fade 101 has been created with a chromeand metal-free leather upper from a German tannery with “robust environmental management techniques”. The outsole is natural rubber and the lining is a customdeveloped blend of compostable yarns and plant fibres. The laces and webbings have been made from Lenzing’s Tencel wood pulp, and the glue is partially bio-based.
At the end of the shoes’ life, customers apply for a composting bag on the website, then the shoes will be sent to the composter in Germany, where they will be ground up and mixed with food waste, grass and other materials and turned into a pre-industrial compost slurry. All materials have been screened against more than 200 harmful substances by a third-party laboratory and tested for safe plant growth postcomposting. “If someone doesn’t return their shoes and they end up in landfill, or even buried by the family dog, we want to be sure they’ll still break down safely and be ultimately harmless as well,” comments David. “We also happen to have our own farm in Germany where we can do all our own experimenting.”
He hopes their journey and model will be one that other footwear brands can learn from, or that partnerships and collaborations can help to spread the message. “You’re fighting a very big machine and mostly customers just don’t know the benefits – who searches for biocircular shoes? It doesn’t need to be a competition all the time, we love to work with other
Joined-up thinking
David Solk took part in panels at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen and London’s Future Fabrics Expo. He comments when it comes to footwear recycling, the big brands should not be putting the onus on recyclers and sorters to solve their challenges, but instead should approach the largest tier four vendors, that create the polyester pellets, and ask for standardisation on three or four grades of polyester. “This would allow all the brands to put a standard pictogram on the product, which would make recycling extraordinarily easy,” he comments. “The feedstock could grow much faster, and recycling could grow much faster.”
companies.” Given the opportunity to scale, the costs will also come down, he says – and the company doesn’t intend to stop at sneakers.
“There are already shoes using some more sustainable materials on the market today. What we’re offering is a fully biocircular sneaker that is not only comfortable, but is beautifully crafted, and has elegance in its style,” he says. “We want to be a catalyst for change, but we can’t do better than the big guys, it’s impossible, I don’t have the resources. We want to show that if it can be done, maybe it should be done. And maybe we don’t need a six-times mark up for it.”
Upper: The upper leather is sourced from a German tannery. The leather is chrome free and heavy metal free and has undergone a compost-capable tanning process.
Laces & webbings: These are made of wood pulp from sustainably harvested eucalyptus, beech and spruce trees. This yarn fibre has been certified for biodegradability and compostability in various environments.
Lace tips: Also known as aglets, these tips are made from certified compostable material and are attached by Solk’s own machine so that every lace is the right length and there’s no production waste.
Glue: The partially bio-based glue has been specially tested to fit the requirements for durability and compost capability.
Lining: The one-piece, knitted-to-shape lining is a Solk-developed blend of compostable yarns and plant fibres that are 100% biobased.
Outsole: Pure tree rubber
Movv insists its shoes can help prevent injury to the ligaments, tendons and bones. The Solara style incorporates support into the sole and the upper. ALL CREDITS: MOVV
Fromthegroundup
Astart-up footwear brand from Denmark has said the running shoes it has developed can help prevent foot injuries, now and in the future. The brand, Movv, launched its first shoe, the Nostara, earlier this year. Founder, Nikolai Christensen, began work on it in 2024 following 25 years in the shoe industry. The launch of a second model, the Solara, followed this September.
Mr Christensen describes the Nostara as a neutral running shoe, while the Solara is aimed specifically at runners who have a tendency to over-pronate. He says these shoes are the fruits of his analysis of the scans of a million feet.
He has worked closely with Kaiser Sport & Ortopædi (KSO), a Danish company that runs stores and clinics around the country. As well as offering footwear and clothing for runners, it carries out assessments of people’s running styles and recommends treatment for
Twenty-five years of learning about the footwear industry from the inside have allowed Nikolai Christensen the freedom to do things differently with start-up brand Movv.
injuries. A 3D foot-scan is always part of a KSO assessment. In a similar way, Runners’ Lab has been working to provide these services to runners in Belgium since 1980.
Studying anonymised data from these partners helped Nikolai Christensen build on the understanding of the biomechanics of the foot, and knowledge of lasts
and shoes that he built up in a quarter of a century working for major footwear brands, including Ecco and Keen. Information from the scans has allowed Movv to build up a picture of what he calls “real-world running patterns”. The start-up accepts that, in keeping with the Pareto principle, there will always be around 20% of people whose feet do not fit ‘the norm’, but this exercise has helped Mr Christensen design and make running shoes that will fit a majority of European consumers well, while supporting natural movement and helping keep bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles healthy.
“We were able to start Movv with a strong foundation,” he explains. “Before colours, price-points and even product quality, everything for us started with biomechanics. Understanding of the foot turns into a last. The last turns into the inner core of the shoe, and we have built everything around that.”
In the design loop
To be able to keep adding to his stock of information, he embeds a near-field communication (NFC) chip into each shoe to make it easy and quick for runners who choose Movv to give feedback on how the shoes feel after each run. If these customers believe improvement is necessary in the heel counter or in the cushioning or even in the quality of the laces, he wants to know. And if he believes this interaction can help him improve the product, he can convey changes to his manufacturing partners right away. NFC chips do not track a runner’s movement, but a tap on the chip with the user’s phone can deliver detailed content from the brand and give opportunities for feedback to enhance its products. Mr Christensen calls this ‘co-creation’, which stems from being “the runners’ friend”, being able to look them in the eye and talk to them on their own terms. This is something that he says matters a lot to him. He calls it “a living design-loop between us and the runner”.
“I wanted to build this in from the beginning,” he says. “I have respect for lots of footwear brands and it’s not for me to tell them what to do. It’s enough for me to stick to my business. But one advantage you have as a small start-up is that you can have this level of agility and, so far, enough people are willing to interact to make this work. Some people are too busy, of course, and I respect that. The ones who are interested in this are very committed and really want to see change.”
Other priorities
It is possible that the bigger a company grows, the harder it will be for it to interact with consumers in this way. Perhaps scale simply will not allow it. Legacy systems often prioritise other things: production volumes, seasonal turnover, marketing cycles and so on.
Sometimes, runners who interact with Movv have been surprised to receive suggestions from the founder that they should try other brands as well, but he has done this from the outset. Because the Nostara is a neutral shoe, he told runners who needed a shoe with more support to try something else. This was before bringing his own support shoe, the Solara, to market, of course. In any case, it was an opportunity to show that Movv is, in his
words, “an authentic brand, one that cares about the fit, comfort and health of customers”.
His belief is that combining different shoes in a rotation can be of benefit to runners’ health. “They will flex their feet in different ways and their bodies will grow stronger,” he says. “You don’t need to wear the same shoes to train in as you will wear when you race.”
Good for muscles, bad for bones
He argues that the soft shoes that have come to dominate the running footwear market are good for building up muscles. Because the materials are soft, the muscles have to work hard to establish and keep stability. But he is sure these shoes are less good at building ligament and bone strength, benefits he has incorporated into the lower-stacked Nostara and the Solara. He explains: “If the shoe is too soft, the receptors at the nerve endings will not send the same signals to the bones, and the bones will not work as hard. Muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones all work in the same way: if they are not put under any pressure they will not grow stronger. Ten years from now, a lot of runners who have only ever run in soft shoes could have some bone atrophy problems.”
Some higher-stacked running shoes now have so much super-critical foam in them they make the Movv founder think of “a pair of stilts”, making the response that the shoes demand of the wearer’s body incomplete. This is Movv founder, Nikolai Christensen, with the Nostara shoe.
because the anatomical connection with the ground changes fundamentally. The higher the stack and the softer the shoe, the more problematic this will be, he insists, suggesting that while the appeal of lightness, softness and comfort is understandable, “the pendulum always swings too far”.
Evolution curve
Movv shoes are not minimalist. Mr Christensen understands the popularity of minimalist shoes, but he believes running shoes need to reflect some of the ways in which the human foot has evolved. His shoes have an asymmetrical heel landing because, he explains, people land underneath their bodies and this makes their feet asymmetrical on impact. The shoes also have a proprietary forefoot design. The last that Movv uses is flat under the forefoot rather than curved. Its design is one that allows the toes to spread into “a natural position” to gain power for pushing off. Running shoes often squeeze the forefoot in a downward curve, he observes, but the foot is flat there, so his shoes are, too. Other features include a “dynamic arch comfort system” that adapts to the wearer’s foot to improve stability in the gait, while gently stimulating the arch to build strength and flexibility.
Twenty-five years of learning about the footwear industry, from the inside, have allowed him the freedom to build Movv from scratch, but “without re-inventing all the wheels”. His intention is to invest everything he can in the product rather than in offices or large teams of employees. The community he is building is with runners who are interacting with the brand and co-creating with it. He is committed to using those connections to keep learning and improving, and for data from real runners to continue to drive design.
“The freedom to build from scratch is powerful,” Mr Christensen continues, “but it also means you are building every system, every relationship and every process from zero. In a time of global supply chain disruption, that’s a real challenge. Lead times are unpredictable, material costs fluctuate and logistics can be volatile. But because we are small and agile, we can adapt quickly. We have chosen partners who share our values and are willing to grow with us. And because we do not chase seasonal drops, we are not under pressure to overproduce or discount. That gives us more control and stability, even in uncertain times.”
Lasting support
The Solara’s development exemplifies this. Movv has taken its time to develop this second shoe and bring it to market, even though it realised early on that enough runners are prone to over-pronation to make it worthwhile to offer to help them. Working out how best to provide this help required thought, time and work. “The material in the shoe has to be harder,” the founder explains, “to ease the stress on ligaments, tendons and bones. Firmer, harder material will hold the foot when it moves.” He adds that bigger brands’ use of neutral shoes with added guide-rails in the upper does not offer lasting support. He has created hold in the upper,
“ Ten years from now, a lot of runners who have only ever run in soft shoes could have bone problems. ”
NIKOLAI CHRISTENSEN, MOVV
but also in the sole by using contrasting densities; both components share the workload. The Nostara weighs around 350 grammes, but will “take a beating for 1,000 kilometres” according to its inventor, who is not a fan of “the fast-fashion mindset that dominates much of the footwear industry” and has made simplicity and durability Movv’s core values. He thinks it will be worth carrying an extra 50 grammes per shoe in the Solara for runners who over-pronate to put energy into moving forward rather than moving inwards and, in addition, save themselves from developing tendon problems in the knee or in the ankle.
He is convinced either the neutral Nostara or the supportive Solara would work for most people in the market, that one or other of these models would suit 95% of the runners in the world. But he makes it clear there is more to come, saying: “We have a great foundation, and we have runners that want to go faster, for example. This is what we will concentrate on next time.” He adds that the Solara is a natural step forward from the Nostara and that there are many more steps to come. It is already working on new models that address different movement needs, products that will help keep people moving, pain-free.
The Solara, for runners who tend to over-pronate.
Another new star t for Stuar t Weitzman
Footwear group Caleres has completed its acquisition of high-end women’s footwear brand Stuart Weitzman. It took the brand over from previous owner, Tapestry, on August 4. The groups signed a definitive agreement about the Stuart Weitzman brand in February, with Caleres committing to pay $105 million for the deal, “subject to customary adjustments”.
Chief executive of Caleres, Jay Schmidt, said he had long admired Stuart Weitzman for the brand’s “pivotal role in shaping the footwear industry”. He said Caleres was committed to preserving the brand’s legacy of craftsmanship, quality and fit, “while driving it forward”. His counterpart at Tapestry, Joanne Crevoiserat, said the Stuart Weitzman brand and its teams had added “to the passion, creativity and craftsmanship of our organisation over the last decade”. But she added that Tapestry wanted to “maintain a sharp focus” on its largest value-creation opportunities and that this sale would allow the group “to sustain Coach’s leadership and momentum, while reinvigorating Kate Spade”.
Tapestry reported full-year revenues of $215.1 million for Stuart Weitzman for the period ending June 28, 2025. This represents a fall of 11% compared to the previous year. The brand’s new owner said the acquisition of Stuart Weitzman would cement its “leadership position in women’s fashion footwear, particularly in the contemporary segment of the market”. It described it as a brand with “unique meaning and resonance with consumers” and one of the most iconic names in luxury footwear.
Elegance and modernity
Mr Schmidt says the brand’s original designs “have embodied elegance and modernity for decades” and that Caleres is committed to preserving the artistry, quality and reputation for fit that the brand has. One star customer, singer Beyoncé, once said she had been able to “dance a thousand miles in his [Stuart Weitzman’s] beautiful shoes”.
Jonathan Lelonek, who joined Stuart Weitzman in 2012 and was most recently its senior vice-president for global wholesale, will become brand president under Caleres’s ownership. Earlier in his career, Mr Lelonek held senior roles in sales and merchandising at Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo and Paul Frank.
Stuart Weitzman himself retired from the business in 2017, becoming chairman emeritus. Before that, his company became part of the Jones Apparel Group in 2012; from there, Sycamore Partners, the private equity
For the third time in just over a decade, Stuart Weitzman is under new ownership. Re-establishing a good relationship with partner manufacturers in Spain could be the key to Caleres making a success of its acquisition of the high-end women’s footwear brand.
fund that owns Jones Apparel, sold the brand in 2015 for $574 million, with the buyer, Coach, beating bids from other private equity firms and from shoe companies. The Coach parent group renamed itself Tapestry in 2017.
Serendipity strikes
Shoes were not part of Stuart Weitzman’s original plans when he was nearing the end of a course in business at the Wharton School in Philadelphia in 1963. His family were footwear manufacturers in New York and Massachusetts, but he wanted to work on Wall Street and, in his words “break the bank”. Goldman Sachs had offered him a position and he had agreed to start there after completing his studies. He says serendipity stepped into his path.
How serendipity did this was through an invitation from his college room-mate during their senior year to draw some sketches of shoe designs for his (the roommate’s) own family footwear firm. He had seen Mr Weitzman produce some art for university theatre productions and said he thought a transition to drawing shoes would be possible and, potentially, of interest to his father, who often bought designs of women’s shoes from freelancers. Stuart Weitzman looked at the company’s current catalogue and produced 20 sketches of shoe designs that he thought would tie in well. His friend’s father bought the drawings.
When the academic year ended, the would-be Wall Street broker went home to New York for the summer. One June day, walking in Manhattan, he went past the famous show-people’s shoe store, I.Miller. In the window there was a pair of one of the shoes he had drawn a few months earlier. He went into the store to check that his eyes were not deceiving him. An assistant confirmed the shoes had come from his
Over a number of decades, the brand built strong ties to the artisan footwear manufacturers of Elda and Petrer in the province of Alicante in Spain.
CREDIT: STUART WEITZMAN
friend’s father’s firm and added that they were selling so well I.Miller had already placed a repeat order. Thrilled, Mr Weitzman’s reaction was to call Goldman Sachs to tell them he changed his mind and would not be taking up the job offer after all. He started looking for a job in footwear design right away.
Gain in Spain
When his father died in 1965, Stuart Weitzman helped run the family firm. He continued to create designs for it when new owners bought the company at the start of the 1970s. Those new owners transferred some of the company’s production to Spain, specifically to the Elda-Petrer shoe manufacturing hub in the province of Alicante. Through this, the designer formed strong ties to footwear producers there and these partners became a fundamental part of his own set-up when he established the Stuart Weitzman brand in the mid-1980s. In the decades that followed, in spite of the changes in ownership of the company, those relationships with skilled Spanish manufacturers remained strong. Until recently, at least.
In 2024, Stuart Weitzman spoke about this in a talk at his alma mater, the Wharton School. He said he saw opportunities in Spain, even if there might have been more prestige in choosing to work with manufacturing partners in Italy instead. Tipping his hat to a famous poem by Robert Frost, he said he was pleased now to have taken the road less travelled. As in the closing line of the poem, for Stuart Weitzman, taking the road less travelled ended up making all the difference.
“The sourcing of your product is as important as what you end up creating,” he says. “We were a big shot in a small world, whereas in Italy we would have been a little shot in a big world. There was less competition for workers in Spain, and there was a real discipline in that society, which is still there. In 46 years, we had no strikes in any of our factories. There was no confrontation between owners and workers. We worked together and it paid off.”
Adopted son
He remains extremely proud of having been named in 2008 as an ‘adopted son’ of the town of Elda, an honour he describes as being the equivalent of receiving the keys of the city. At the time of his nomination, the authorities in Elda described Mr Weitzman as employing, directly or indirectly, 3,000 people in Elda and Petrer and being responsible for employing 40% of the area’s footwear industry workers. Fifteen local factories were making Stuart Weitzman shoes at the time, some of them working exclusively for the New York-based brand. One of these, SW Creations, was 50% owned by the brand.
As a relatively big shot in a relatively small world, the brand was able to decide its own the values and, according to the founder, its manufacturing partners shared them. Value number-one was that there could never, under any circumstances, be any compromise on product quality, which included comfort. “I didn’t want to put a shoe on anyone’s foot if it was going to give them a blister,” the designer says now. “She would tell her friend, who would tell another friend and I would end up losing eight customers over it. And I know from carrying out
analysis of our marketing campaigns that it cost, on average, $8,000 to bring in one new customer. Spain worked out because, having that discipline in the factory, the DNA of Stuart Weitzman became ‘fashion and function’, not just one or the other.”
Bonds under strain
The connection to Spain continues. Shoes in the brand’s most recent collections include styles as diverse as the Babette Mary Jane slingback, the Sovinnie flat in patent leather, the Stuart Power Boot 85 in snakeskin, and the Hudson shearling chukka boot. All of these products are made in Spain. As suggested above, though, things have changed. The bond between the brand and the manufacturing partners it worked particularly closely with for decades seems all-but broken.
Major shifts in the dynamic began not long after the ‘adopted son’ accolade the town of Elda bestowed on the US designer. What is now described as a real-estate bubble left Spain fiercely exposed by the 2008 global financial crisis. In the first quarter of 2008, the official unemployment rate was 9.6%. By the first quarter of 2009, this figure had increased to 17.25%. It continued to rise until reaching a level of close to 27% at the start of 2013. At times during this period, the unemployment rate for people under the age of 25 was frequently reported to be around 50%.
Some of the factories that made shoes for Stuart Weitzman in Elda and Petrer closed around 2010, but a recovery began in 2014 and, by the time the brand’s founder retired in 2017, other operators had become part of the Weitzman world. In total, 14 factories in the area were producing shoes for the brand when the founder stepped away. A group of seven of these companies were long-term, Elda-based suppliers that produced shoes only for Stuart Weitzman. The brand also had its own team of around 45 people in a central office located between Elda and Petrer. Some production was taking place there and other members of the team worked in product development, material sourcing and in an inhouse technical support department. In addition, the
Shoe designer Stuart Weitzman at Wharton School in Philadelphia in 2024.
CREDIT: THE WHARTON SCHOOL, THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
number of people in the area working indirectly in the 14 manufacturing sites was still in the thousands.
Efficiency drive
More change was on the way, though. In November 2017, a new production director, José Alfredo Flores, arrived from Tempe, the footwear sourcing and manufacturing group of Inditex. An Elda native, he was a seasoned shoe industry professional, but with the added experience of working as part of a large fashion organisation (few are larger than Inditex). Across two spells, he worked for Tempe for more than 12 years. This gave Mr Flores an understanding of the way Tapestry wanted its ownership of the prestigious shoe brand to work following the founder’s departure. At a formal meeting in 2018 between the company’s New Yorkbased management team and the seven traditional Elda partners, things came to a head. The discussion focused on how the world had changed and the shift towards online shopping with delivery to the customer’s home, plus the growing preference of many consumers for more informal footwear. The Tapestry team asked for detailed cost and quality analyses of the products its Elda-Petrer partners were making. This exercise flagged up a need for change. Around this time, Tapestry also moved some production of Stuart Weitzman shoes to a large, modern factory in Elche, 30 kilometres away. It said the Elche factory was able to offer it a costsaving of between 15% and 20% compared to its near neighbours, using exactly the same materials.
Turbulent twenties
Covid-19, plus all the other macroeconomic and geopolitical crises of the turbulent 2020s added to the challenge of maintaining smooth working relationships between the brand’s leadership and its manufacturing partners. The footwear industry in Elda and Petrer has had more bad years than good years so far this decade. Perhaps a little too late, even those manufacturers that only produced for Stuart Weitzman began trying to
find new customers.
By the time of the announcement in February this year that Caleres wanted to become the new owner of Stuart Weitzman, only a handful of smaller operators in the area were still supplying shoes to the brand. Orders were limited and optimism was in short supply. The last of the traditional seven Elda manufacturers, SW Creaciones, had just begun formal negotiations with its employees over a redundancy and factory-closure programme. This programme is now complete and the facility has closed its doors.
Caleres has not responded to our requests for more detail on what its commitment to preserving the brand’s “artistry, quality and reputation for fit” will mean for suppliers. How easy will it be to keep these characteristics in place if it chooses to work with new suppliers in new locations? At the same time, if it is to keep the brand’s ties to Spain in place, it has to work to build the relationships back up again.
Rebuilding exercise
Hope remains in the wider Spanish footwear sector that there is mileage in this decades-old relationship yet. With the impetus of new owners for the Stuart Weitzman brand and with a more favourable tariff situation than many feared in the spring of this year, ties between the company and partner manufacturers in Elda and Petrer can be rebuilt.
National footwear industry association FICE says the new
framework for a trade agreement that the US and the European Union (EU) jointly announced in August gives grounds for optimism. It will mean that exports of shoes from Spain and the rest of the EU to the US will face a tariff of no more than 15%. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said a single 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports will give “much-needed clarity” for consumers and for businesses. This should give Caleres some reassurance that the supply chain model it has inherited for Stuart Weitzman can still work well.
FICE says the brand’s founder “fell in love with Spain” and came to look on the province of Alicante as a home from home. The organisation describes Mr Weitzman as “a great, master shoemaker”, who came to rely on ‘Made In Spain’ for the production of his high-end shoes. It says he found in the manufacturing hub of the province of Alicante the ideal manufacturing partners for developing his brand.
“We remain convinced,” FICE continues, “that Alicante, and in particular the area of Elda-Petrer, can still provide the best production set-up that Caleres will find for Stuart Weitzman shoes. It should continue to make those shoes here.” Stuart Weitzman took the road less travelled. He is not the only person hoping the brand that bears his name has not reached the end of that road yet.
The town of Elda, home from home for Stuart Weitzman.
CREDIT: AYUNTAMIENTO DE ELDA
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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE GREEN
At Stanbee, we’ve built our name on innovation. Green innovation. We make it our mission to produce the lightest, thinnest, strongest, most resilient structural footwear materials in the industry. And we do it while cutting our reliance on raw materials—thus protecting the environment from unnecessary waste.
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