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74 runninginsight.com ©2017 Formula4media LLC. foot, which needs space to expand and bend. Allowing more freedom for the front of the foot is one of the positive changes that came out of the minimalist movement. "If you compare shoes from a decade ago to now, one of the biggest changes in the upper is the fit from right behind the met-heads up through the toes," says Spencer White, VP of Saucony's Human Performance & Innovation Lab. "There's more room there, and that's a good thing. It never needed to be as restrictive as it was. It made the shoe less comfortable, and for some people, having that grip made it impossible to run in the shoe." Altra's foot-shape design has taken this trend to its logical end, and co-founder Golden Harper believes people are beginning to understand the different needs in shoe tightness during running compared to other athletic pursuits. While a basketball shoe, for example needs to lock your foot down to keep you from rolling off during violent lateral movements, running is different. "It is not the same movement," Harper says. "Running is about efficiency, relaxation, forward movement." Engineered Solutions New processes make creating efficient, relaxed uppers easier today than ever. Rather than sewing together layers of materials with different properties, using liners or overlays to create structure, companies are engineering fabrics to have unique zones over different parts of the foot. "Back in the day, we might have 65 components in a shoe, now we have about eight," says Stockbridge. "We can define a zone by the weave and by the yarn." Knitting is the newest rage, and comes with big promises. "You can knit an upper in three dimensions, which is a huge thing in terms of improving fit and comfort," Stockbridge says. "It simplifies footwear. It weighs less. It's easier and quicker to make. It costs less. There's less waste. There's no negative." ON CLOUDFLYER The unique star-shaped lacing sys- tem aims to lock the foot securely where most needed to enhance the force transfer from foot to the ground, while the rest of the engineered-mesh upper has been simplified to comfortably wrap the foot and work with the outsole to support each individual gait.