Sensoria : The new smart sock

Heapsylon produce Sensoria, a $149 anklet device. The Sensoria is a horseshoe anklet and attaches to a special sock via five brass knuckle-like magnets stitched near the lower shin area. Special sensors in the bottom of the sock measure where the foot makes contact with the ground and for how long. The lightweight anklet contains a CPU which analyzes data from the sensors. Softwear displays a detailed heat map of where pressure is being placed on your foot, along with detailed statistics on foot contact time, cadence, steps taken, stride length, and speed .The discreet unit goes un-noticed but for a small hump in the sock. According to the manufacturers it coaches users with real-time analysis of their foot-striking position and stride. It will be available to its crowd-funders later this year and available to the public in 2015.

Marquee shoes: What's the deal?

Expensive signature shoes endorsed by pro players from the National Basketball Association are competing in the lucrative market for high-performance, high-profile sneakers. Nike Inc. has new shoes from the Cleveland Cavaliers ' LeBron JamesI Nike's Zoom LeBron III ), the Denver Nuggets Carmelo Anthony, the Los Angeles Lakers ' Kobe Bryant and (from its Converse unit) the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade . In addition they continue to sell to the basketball shoes of all time hero, Michael Jordan . Brand rivals Adidas-Salomon AG are countering with shoes from Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady (comes with small pieces of wood from an actual basketball court embedded in the heel and outsole (to symbolize McGrady's desire to "put a piece of the court" into his shoes, according to the company) and the Minnesota Timberwolves ' Kevin Garnett . Reebok International Ltd . Have signature shoes from Allen Iverson ( Answer IX ) of the Philadelphia 76ers . It is unlikely the pretenders will knock over Michael Jordan as top signature sneaker dude but their intention is to try. All signature shoes come in the expensive bracket demonstrate fashion and gimmickry and usually supported by expensive promotional campaigns. The shelf life for most signature shoes is short and become unfashionable within three months of their release. Sales of Marquee footwear have been strong but there are indications consumer's interest may be waning due to their price. In 2005 sales of men’s basketball sneakers had dropped 4 percent from the previous year. On exception to this trend is the Converse's "Wade" shoe which has increased in sales unlike many of other expensive contenders. In the end most of the signature shoes end up in Boot Hill and in unmarked graves but before you discard old sneaker s bare in mind, original shoes can fetch large prices to collectors keen to own the worn originals.

Marathon winner wore his Crocs

Callum Robertson-Barnes lost his running shoes on a school bus, so he ran 21.1km in a pair of black, slightly dirty Crocs. Callum managed to finish 10th out of more than 1200 people in one hour, 23 minutes and three seconds. He was pleasantly surprised at the Crocs' performance. The straps kept them on, and there was only one blister. Fellow race entrants and Callum's mates greeted his impressive effort with a mix of head-shaking amazement, or observations that he was slightly mad.

Powerlace auto-lacing shoe : No longer in the future

Thirty years after Back to the Future II sold the world on the concept of an auto-lacing shoes they are here, finally. A startup called Powerlace in St Hubert, Canada has created a shoe that they claim will pave the way for a paradigm shift in the shoe industry. The company's system uses a pressure plate in the heel to tighten shoes and a level at the lower rear end to release them, with an adjustment puller near the tongue. Powerlace co-founder Frederick Labbé tells Gizmag thought there had to be a better, more efficient way to do it, and seven years ago started tinkering with ideas. After studying traditional methods of shoe manufacturing rhey went through dozens of prototypes, starting with existing shoes that were modified then later building their own from scratch. They developed a mechanism which uses highly-resistant cables to hold the foot in the shoe. Inserting the foot triggers the mechanism, which locks into place at a tension level set by a pull tab on the outside upper section. The tension in the laces can be adjusted separately, too, by moving the lace lock. A thermo polyurethane sole serves as support for the mechanism as well as anchor for the lever that unlocks the mechanism, while the tongue opens right out once pressure is released from the laces. The team has tested the system up to 200,000 lacing cycles, which if it stands up to real-world use would mean the mechanism could operate without a hitch for 68 years if used four times a day.

adidas Originals x SPEZIAL - Sole Searching In South America

Nike: Genealogy of Innovation campaign

Following successful exhibitions at Nike’s Phenomenal House spaces in Paris, London and Berlin during the summer, the brand launched an immersive online experience. The exhibition showcased forty years of Nike design, thirty years of sneaker culture, and twenty years of Nike Football. It all started with the very first shoe to bear the Swoosh, “The Nike” football boot from 1971, and it concluded with Nike’s latest football boots, the Magista and Mercurial Superfly. Keen to share the experience Nike approached the London-based animation production company Golden Wolf to direct and produce a film that would develop their Genealogy of Innovation campaign and bring it to life. Anew TV commercial called The ‘Genealogy of Innovation’ campaign which shows 43 years of history and 200 shoes in under two minutes.

Top siders: The origins of boat shoes

Boat shoes (or top siders), favoured by the yacht se,t were invented in 1935 by sailor, Paul Sperry looking for shoes that could keep boaties sure footed on wet decks. He noticed his dog could run nimbly over the ice and snow without slipping and carved the sole of his rubber shoes with his penknife to mimicked the grooves on his dog’s paws. His shoes proved so effective he started Sperry Top-Sider , and the U.S. Navy negotiated a deal with the brand to manufacture Top-Siders specifically for them. Australian tennis champion Adrian Quist was impressed with the rubber treads and made the connection with tennis shoes and lawn courts he eventually convincing Dunlop to make the Dunlop Volley for tennis . This was the Godfather of sports trainers and remained unmatched for the next three decades. By the 50s top siders became the shoes to wear following the release of Lisa Birnbach's "The Preppy Handbook."

Deceptive advertising: Sport shoe buyer's beware

Do you believe everything you read in marketing material? Seems a significant number of us do despite laws to help protect consumers from manufacturer’s erroneous claims. Three major shoe manufacturers have recently been involved in class action suits where deceptive advertising was claimed. In all three cases, the companies were found guilty and required to pay multi-million dollar settlements after it was revealed no scientific research was found to support the advertised health claims for their shoes. Organisations like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) want national advertisers to understand they must exercise responsibility and ensure any claims for fitness gear are supported by sound science. The situation exemplifies a tendency to prefer theory over evidence. Whilst it might be nice to think wearing a certain pair of shoes can help increase muscle tonality or assist in weight loss, there is simply no evidence to support these claims. So buyer beware.

Read more
Robbins J and Waked E 1997 Hazard of deceptive advertising of athletic footwear. Br J Sports Med. Dec 1997; 31(4): 299–303.

4 - 2: Anatomy of a Stride

Vibram's new customer guarantee

Vibram Five Fingers running shoes have had better days but after the recent court settlement , in which Vibram set aside $3.75 million to compensate people who felt they'd been misled about health benefits of the shoe, the company are keen to win back customers. For the rest of this year (2014) , all shoe sales via the Vibram web site will come with an unconditional full-refund offer and if for any reason the comsumer turns out not to like running in them the company will take the shoe back and return a full refund. According to the company all returned shoes will be cleaned and donated to and donate them to organizations that might use them.

The XX Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014

The XX Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014

Running Research Junkie: Great resource

Excellent resource for runners at Running Research Junkie

Sneakerheads: Bluechip kicks

wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather

Football, Soccer, Basketball, Hockey and all things in between : Overnights ABC National

Football, Soccer, Basketball, Hockey and all things in between , but what shoes do they wear and what did they wear? Trevor Chappell (Overnights ABC National) and Cameron Kippen talk about the history of sports shoes

The 7 Myths of Foot Blister Prevention

The 7 Myths of Foot Blister Prevention from Rebecca Rushton

adidas Springblade Drive

Re-Issue collection of their 1934 Fred Perry tennis shoe

Fred Perry has launched a Re-Issue collection of their 1934 Fred Perry tennis shoe to coincide with the official start of Wimbledon 2014. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Fred Perry’s first Wimbledon title in 1934 the company asked 5 international retailers to customize their own edition of the famous tennis shoes.



Oi Polloi (Manchester) created a fifties influenced version in a light ecru canvas upper and matching terry collar.

Foot Patrol (London) came up with a jet black suede variation.

Firmament (Berlin) has taken a tech-sport approach, combining white suede uppers with an air-mesh tongue and lining.

Hanon (Aberdeen) took inspiration from the iconic Lambretta GP series with a ‘GP yellow’ suede upper, offset by black trims and a brilliant white outsole.

Bodega’s design (Boston) refers to the original clay courts of Fred Perry’s Wimbledon time and has used sand colored suede.

To showcase the project, Fred Perry has teamed up with the magazine Rig Out to create a short film and a series of images, directed by Josh Millns and Harry Mayes, presenting the shoe and its roots in Wimbledon. The shoes come in special packaging with a concise biography of Fred Perry, the man and the brand, a limited edition Re-Issue box and dust bag along with a set of four “Made in England” tennis balls in a re-issued tube from the only UK tennis ball manufacturer.

Fred Perry 1934 Re-Issue Collection (Low Res) from Fred Perry on Vimeo.

HRP ForceShoe Evaluation

Athletic footwear

Selfies on your sneaks

Adidas plans to release a mobile app for the iPhone and Android that will allow consumers to customize and buy a pair of ZX Flux sneakers printed with an Instagram image that the customer uploads. The cost of the app and the shoes, as well as how exactly the app will work is not yet known.

Greenpeace study finds potentially hazardous chemicals in some World Cup products

Greenpeace Germany tested 33 items for hazardous chemicals and made to be sold inconjunction with the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. These included the official ball (adidas), boots, goalkeeper gloves sold by adidas, Nike, and Puma. Test results confirmed many of the products contained hazardous chemicals such as perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), nonylphenolethoxylates (NPEs), phthalates and dimethylformamide (DMF). All these substances have potential to cause harm to health. The investigation found 17 out of 21 football boots and half of the goalkeeper's gloves tested were found to contain ionic PFCs, such as the particularly dangerous PFOA. Adidas' "Predator" boot and Nike's "Tiempo" boot contained the highest levels of PFOA, the campaign group said, while a pair of adidas 'Predator' gloves were also said to contain levels of the substance in excess of the brand's own limits. The 'Brazuca' official World Cup ball was similarly found to contain NPEs, a substance that, when released into the environment, degrades to nonylphenol, a substance known to be toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. NPEs were also found in over two thirds of boots and half of the gloves, indicating the widespread use of the chemical. Phthalates and DMF was detected in all 21 pairs of boots tested. DMF is used as a solvent in boot manufacture and is classed as harmful to reproduction and can also be damaging when in contact with skin. Greenpeace's Detox campaign has successfully convinced 20 companies, including high profile names such as Primark, Zara, Victoria's Secret, and H&M to make commitments to ditch various hazardous chemicals from their supply chains by 2020, a pledge Nike and adidas have also taken.

Puma Tricks?

Puma has unveiled the Tricks boot which will be worn by the likes of Mario Balotelli ( Milan and Italy ), Cesc Fàbregas (F C Barcelona and Spain ), Sergio Agüero (Manchester City and Argentina ), Marco Reus (Borussia Dormund and Germany), Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco FC and Colombia ), Olivier Giroud ( Arsenal and France ), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus and Italy ) and Yaya Touré (Manchester City and Ivory Coast) at the FIFA World Cup Brazil Tricks is a colourful interpretation of Pumas’s evoPOWER and evoSPEED football boots, with the right boot in pink and the left boot in blue. The bi-colour boots symbolise power of the player and the will to win of ther supporters. As part of a new Puma campaign many of the best players on the planet will don one pink boot and one blue boot as they take to the field.

PUMA evoPOWER and evoSPEED Tricks Football Boots

A brief history of soccer boots

History of soccer boots from Cameron Kippen

Vibram withdraw health claims

Vibram makers of FiveFingers barefoot running shoes have agreed to a $3.75m (£2.2m) class-action settlement. The action was filed in 2012 by Vibram customers at odds’ with being misled by claims over the health benefits of the shoes. In a study of barefoot running shoes published in 2013 researchers found runners given Vibram's shoes were at greater risk of injury. The Vibram group had a significantly greater incidence of bone marrow edema after the training period, while neither group showed any soft tissue changes. The study found, and advised those wishing to transition to barefoot running to do so gradually. Vibram expressly denied and continues to deny any wrongdoing alleged in the Actions, and neither admits nor concedes any actual or potential fault, wrongdoing or liability. They have however as part of the settlement has agreed to remove claims that the shoes are effective in strengthening muscles or reducing injury. The settlement agreement is subject to court approval.

The history of football boots

The World at Your Feet: Episode 3 - Men's Fashion and the Sneaker

adidas Copa Mundial

For the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, adidas have given the Copa Mundial's a colourful face lift. The original Copa Mundials were released in 1982 and have gone on to sell more than 10 million pairs worldwide. They have remained favourites with park footballers and pros alike, being worn by some of football's greatest names including Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Zico and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Designed specifically for firm ground pitches, the new boots boasts kangaroo leather upper and heel sections, which provide excellent control and touch, alongside superior comfort. The new coloured Copa Mundials retail for £145 and are available at adidas performance stores nationwide or at www.adidas.com. The classic black and white design is still available for those who prefer to keep their footwear low-key.

Technology Behind the TevaSphere

ShoeZeum Trademark Infringement and Heineken and Tiffany Nike Dunks

Nike prototype shoe sold

Jeff Wasson from Oregon has sold what is believed to be one of the first prototypes of a Nike shoe to one of the world's biggest shoe collectors. Wasson, was given the shoe in 2010 by Tom Bowerman (son of Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman) and sold it to Jordan Geller, who owns hundreds of original Nike shoes housed in his ShoeZeum in California. According to Geller the shoe is a prototype of the Moon Shoe, the first Nike shoe made under the company's previous name, Blue Ribbon Sports. Nike handed out pairs of the shoes, named for their waffle-patterned soles that looked like the marks made by the boots of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they roamed the surface of the moon three years before, at the 1972 U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. The shoe features a "fat belly" swoosh, which is the original look of the logo designed by Portland State graphics design student Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for a fee of $35. After Wasson was asked to fell some trees for Tom Bowerman. Tom discovered one of the original waffle irons his father used to devise Nike's first soles as well a batch off old shoes buried by his father. In gratitude Wasson was given the prototype shoe as a keepsake.

adidas Originals | The Return of Stan Smith

Zumba® new exercise shoes

,br> Zumba® have launched a new range of exercise shoes. The three new footwear styles come in a variety of vibrant colors and have the Z-Slide technology incorporated on the outsole of the footwear to increase mobility and allow freedom to slide on any floor surface (including carpet). In addition, Zumba's Ball Pivot Point technology on the shoe's sole eases movement and provides security while turning or spinning during dance movements, according to the manufacturers. The low-tops range in price from $75-$90, while the high-tops are priced at $100.

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