Footwear Insight

monitor, adjust and fine-tune through a smartphone app. Fit2's two patents are technical in nature — but are not digitized like the Nike and Puma's concepts. But they were developed and tested for the same reason: to give the wearer a better ride and easier in-and-out experience whether he or she is elderly, an athlete or in the third trimester of pregnancy. Adams thinks the new concentration and emphasis on how the end product fits the customer are steps in the right direction for the footwear industry. "It hurts me when I see or hear of older people falling, in many cases due to slipping of the foot inside the shoe," he said. "I would like to see more concentration on the practical aspects of shoes, I mean, we've had the lace for 5,500 years. There have been changes to it, but it still has its imperfections and a lot of people can't adjust them." He says the strong consumer reaction to Kaepa back in the day and the brand's two-lace concept taught him to look more closely at the configuration of the foot, the adjustment, the tension of the lacing and the negative aspects of "lacing up" and "coming loose." "These thoughts haunted me after Kaepa, and when I could no long resist the siren song to 'find the better way,' I plunged headfirst into the impossible task — and it took only eight-and-a-half years to meet the challenge," says Adams, adding, "But I found the challenge to do the impossible was much less boring than to endure the thankless challenge of retirement." l A close-up of a Fit2 prototype. "I would like to see more concentration on the practical aspects of shoes."

• Cover