Running Insight

80 runninginsight.com ©2017 Formula4media LLC. "Some adaptive fit strategies can accommodate a lot of foot types, but certain foot types are not going to fit certain lasts," says Brice Newton, senior manager of global footwear at Brooks. "It's why we have more than one shoe. Everybody is shaped differently." Gray agrees, and thinks companies and retailers should celebrate the unique fit of each brand. "Not everybody likes to fit the same," he says. "This is where there is opportunity for brands to have a signature fit. Rather than trying to fit everybody, good brands know, 'This is our customer, this is our fit, this is what we're going to make.'" One area where we're seeing a more tailored approach is around the heel, which designers identify as the second-most important location for a good fit. "If you can secure the heel, it acts as a guide for the rest of the foot," says Dombrow. Using apparel industry techniques and materials, Under Armour is playing with contour and geometry to surround the heel for a secure and comfortable hold. Many brands are moving away from traditional puffy, foam collars and rigid heel counters and instead molding a heel shape out of thinner materials that conform closer to the foot, eliminating gaps and slop. "The shoe and foot are moving together. It gives you that extension of your foot to the ground," says Heather Pieraldi, head of running footwear at Salomon. U-Curve of Support Just as one "perfect" upper won't fit every runner, neither can one upper construction work for every shoe in the product line. The level of desired control or freedom varies with the type of shoe. "One of the focuses we have is how we can marry the shoe to the foot better," SKECHERS GOrun 6 Simplifying the upper to a single engineered layer, the compression flat knit on the sixth version of the GOrun is designed for the runner who wants to feel like there is noth- ing on their feet, with the slightest bit of control knitted into desired zones by altering the weave and the yarn.

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