Oh my outsole! The outsole mystery...
We are in the middle of the Summer and today is a particularly hot day in Istanbul. We don’t want to think about September, the start of a new business season, the end of the Summer and the Winter’s coming back.
While we are still enjoying this Summer time, fashion companies in general and footwear ones in particular, already started to work on the next Summer collection. The models of shoes that you will wear next year are currently being showcased during big international footwear fairs. Each footwear company tried hard to have a collection that will catch the eyes of buyers mixing trends, high quality materials and originality.
One of the first stage of preparing a footwear collection, before even designing the models you will wear, it to find the right outsole, the one that will give your shoes its special shape and make them unforgettable!
The outsole, or taban in Turkish, is one of the most important parts of a shoe composition. This is the part that protects the foot from the ground as well as from the cold and warmth.
And, to be truly honest, before starting to work for a footwear company, I didn’t really pay a special attention to the outsoles of my shoes, seeing only the practical aspect of them. An aspect so practical and evident that you just forget your shoes have outsoles…
But, did you have a closer look on your shoes’ outsoles? If not, I recommend you to do it right after reading this article and share with me your discoveries… It may be very interesting!
Once you took a closer look to your outsole in particular or to outsoles in general as I did today, you find out that the outsole is also an esthetic part of the shoe. And the choice of one model of outsole against another is subject to hours of reflections, comparisons, discussions in order to obtain the perfect model of outsole, the one that will make your pair of shoes not only comfortable and protective but also unique.
Usually, a footwear company can work with different “outsoles providers” (it sounds like “drugs provider” somehow) who regularly come to show their findings or to work on specific models. There are also dedicated accessories fairs where you can make your benchmark of what will be trendy in terms of outsoles and other footwear accessories.
Every outsole provider keeps a collection of shoes done with the outsoles they made to show to visitors to make them try the comfort of a particular modele. In the end, from season to season, they manage to have a collection of shoes that would make Carry Bradshaw really jealous!
In case of such visits, my colleagues usually spent hours examining from every angle each outsole, taking a picture of them, trying them, feeling them to identify the possible defects, the areas of improvement and the originality in order to have a basis to work on for the next collection models.
Without speaking about the diversity of the raw materials used, it must be noted that, in terms of outsole design, shoemakers show as much imagination and creativity as for the upper of the shoe.
While my colleagues were discussing the different models of shoes and outsoles, I was trying to understand why one outsole model was better than another and what kind of influence the different types of outsole design and relief may have on the feet and on the shoe experience.
And, to be honest, I didn’t find the answer yet. Why do shoemakers spend so much time in the creation and choice of the outsole? I guess this is linked with the foot ergonomics and comfort as well as with the solidity of the overall shoe…
But why so many designs and reliefs? Usually you don’t look at the outsole at first when you look at a pair of shoes, even if this is an important criteria of choice but more for the thickness, joining technics and materials to be sure that your shoe won’t lost its outsole the day after you bought it, than for the esthetic aspect… Moreover, the outsoles are the hidden part of the shoes, the part you never see. So why spending so much time and energy for its design?
I guess I am asking myself too many questions on the whys and hows of the outsole case but once you are confronted to it and to the variety of its designs, you just can’t stop asking yourself why…
The outsole, a new place for art where fashion can also express all its creativity and imagination?
I guess this is the best answer for all my questions and I will end my today’s thoughts on this conclusion!
I’m sure you will have another perception of your outsoles now!
Stay tuned for an insight of the marvelous world of fashion and footwear and of its hidden face!