Footwear Insight

Designers use multiple strategies to create an adaptive fit that can accommodate the spectrum of feet. Laces are the traditional solution and continue to work admirably. "You have the ability to do almost an infinite number of different combinations that somehow will make the shoe fit for you," says Bartold. Companies continue to refine lace thickness, stretch and friction, along with the placement of eyelets to create the desired hold in the proper location. The most extreme example is Puma's Netfit design that allows laces to con- nect and wrap anywhere on the upper. Saucony's ISOFIT is an example of creating adaptability beyond laces, changing the traditional midfoot saddle into a set of "fingers" that can move up and down the foot to the desired hold location and indepen- dently rise or lower over the shape of the instep. Boa is working with several com- panies to create uppers that adapt to your foot shape and then cinch down precisely with their cable-and-dial system. Others are using stretchy materials to adapt to different foot shapes, providing comfort at the cost of snugness. "Stretch makes it easier, like sweat pants," says Gray. "But a tailor can take normal pants and make them fit right, and you can move." Those tailored pants, however, would only fit and move on you, not on your neighbor. In the end, no matter how adaptive uppers become, the true source of fit comes from the shape, which is designed by the last the shoe is built upon. "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 every- body 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 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 tradi- tional puffy, foam collars and rigid heel counters and instead molding a heel shape out of thinner materi- als 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," says Colin Ingram, senior product manager at New Balance. Ingram points out how the right upper complements the sensation of the sole: a plush upper can enhance a soft UPPERS Complicating this seemingly simple task is the fact that the shape of the foot changes as it moves through the stride. 60 • Footwear Insight ~ January/February 2018 footwearinsight.com SAVE THE DATE! THE RUNNING EVENT ® 2018 NOVEMBER 27- 30, 2018 AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER & HILTON AUSTIN

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