Textile Insight

textileinsight.com July/August 2019 ~ Textile Insight • 21 compound, XS Flash 2. It's sticky, stable — and oh, yeah: It comes in colors other than black. The new material is nonmarking and designed to maintain its properties even in cold weather, but the company is betting that ability to play with different hues on the outsole will make XS Flash 2 a compelling story for climbing brands. To show it off, Vibram debuted a line of climbing styles at the show it had made in house, all soled in a vivid turquoise. (The shade is becoming a signature one for the brand: It's the same shade Vibram used in the launch of its environmentally friendly and fashion-conscious Wrap and Go midsole and outsole earlier this year.) According to the brand, the material currently is being shown to Vibram's partners, with the potential to be brought into climbing lines in future seasons. The North Face Looks to the Future(light) When the North Face debuted its proprietary nano- spun Futurelight waterproof breathable membrane technology in pinnacle apparel in 2019, it marked the beginning of a new era for the brand. (It also marked the end of its longtime partnership with Gore-tex.) For spring '20, the newly Denver-based firm is bringing the same technology into footwear. Created by spraying a polyurethane solution through nano-scale nozzles to create a film, the Futurelight membrane is dense enough to stop water penetrating — but porous enough to let air molecules through. It's also customizable: Tweaks to the process can dial up or down the permeability and porosity to suit different performance or weight needs. The process gives the materials some distinct advantages, allowing the film to function when applied to stretch fabrics, unlike more traditional membranes, for better fit with a bootie construction. It also lets the company improve the sustainability. Futurelight is PFC free, and the facing and backing fabrics the company uses to create it are made from 100 percent recycled fabrics. Styles showcasing the technology include the performance Ultra Traction Futurelight and the Fastpack IV boots; it will also be a critical feature of trail styles like the Activist Futurelight boot for men and women, designed for a sneaker-like feel on the trail and style off it, which is available in mid ($145) and low ($135) heights for spring. Sanuk Brings Yulex to Footwear Sanuk is getting ready for a deep dive.This fall, the Goleta, CA-based brand, a division of Deckers Outdoor Corp., will be the first brand to use wetsuit favorite Yulex rubber in footwear. The plant-based material — first used by Patagonia as a neoprene alternative in its wetsuits — will bring performance capabilities of warmth, durability, stretch and water- proofing to the brand's new $90 Chiba Journey, a do-everything style for men meant for fishing, hiking and beach-combing. It also aligns with the brand's push to use renewable materials: Yulex rubber emits 80 percent less CO2 during manufacture as conventional neoprene. l OluKai Pehuea Li The North Face Activist Futurelight Mid Vivobarefoot Primus Knit Wool

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