It's all in the sole

New manufacturers, materials and new designs for soles of sports shoes and boots—Michelin is now going head on with Vibram in shoes and boots made by AKU and with DynaGrip in boots by UK company Karrimor.  Icebug (some of whose products have a Michelin sole) are incorporating titanium spikes into their specialised shoes–there are even shoes with special soles made for mud-running and ice-climbing.

It seems that European tire makers are all in the shoe business: besides the soles offered by Michelin, Pirelli produces its own shoes for walking, while Adidas is collaborating with Continental in the soles for its new Terrex brand. Salomon is offering special lightweight textile-based performance hiking shoes aimed at millennials. A shoe and sole for every sport –some you didn’t even know were sports—and for all seasons and weather conditions. Nice, but now you need an extra cupboard just for all the new specialised footwear on offer.

By Philippe Deleplace