Footwear Insight

16 • Footwear Insight ~ January/February 2018 THE FOOTWEAR EYE I solating graphene – an allotrope of carbon that is the thinnest and stron- gest material yet discovered – was a breakthrough that won researchers at the University of Manchester the Nobel Prize for physics in 2004. And for 2018, British brand Inov-8 is banking on it for footwear, infusing the material into outsoles in its new G-Series family of performance shoes. Inov-8 worked with a research team from the University of Manchester for the past year to create a footwear application of the material. And according to Dr. Aravind Vijayaraghavan, reader in Nanomaterials at the University of Manchester, the resulting compound is worth the wait. "Our unique formulation makes these outsoles 50 percent stronger, 50 percent more stretchy and 50 percent more resistant to wear than the corresponding industry standard rubber outsoles without graphene," he says. For Fall '18, the brand will use the compound in three styles: a trail runner designed for long distances on hard-pack trails; a style designed for soft, muddy surfaces or obstacle courses; and a trainer made for Crossfit or the gym. More styles will follow in 2019. Calling it a "key growth driver" for the brand, Inov-8 product and marketing director Michael Price says, "By 2020, 50 percent of the Inov-8 footwear range will be graphene-enhanced. The potential of graphene really is limitless." O footwearinsight.com Inov-8 is infusing graphene into the outsoles of shoes in its G-Series performance footwear. Innovating With Graphene At Inov-8 Brooks Unlocks the Hexagon MATERIALS MIDSOLE TECH HOT ON THE HEELS OF DNA AMP, THE advance concepts team at Brooks is bringing a second new midsole material to market in the second half of 2018. Called DNA Loft, the new foam is infused with rubber that gives its cellular walls more strength, which lets the brand blow even more air into the material for a super-plush, soft feel. The proprietary cushioning is debuting as a full-length midsole on the Glycerin 16, which delivers in June for men and women at $150, as well as in the heel of the $120 Ghost 11, which launches in August. A honeycomb pattern on the midsole adds structure – debossed on the lateral side, it gives room for compression; embossed on the medial, it gives support – but also pays homage to the new material. The hexagonal shape mirrors the foam's cell structure when seen in cross-section under a microscope. O Brooks Glycerin 16 featuring DNA Loft.

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