Shoes

Modern running shoes rely on combinations of materials for energy efficiency, but this makes them almost impossible to recycle. Researchers at the Fraunhofer group are working on a single-material design that could make full recycling possible.

For decades, the idea of a sub-two-hour marathon occupied a near-mythical place in endurance sport. That barrier finally fell in an official race at the 2026 London Marathon on April 26th, when Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe ran 1:59:30.

Beneath a concrete overpass amid the bustling hub of Causeway Bay, you'll find a bizarre and enduring tradition in Hong Kong – "villain hitting." Here, elderly women perform an elaborate ritual that involves bashing a name written on paper with a shoe.

Keeping shoes clean is neither easy nor particularly fun: hand scrubbing is ineffective, while regular washing machines are way too harsh. The Midishi M1 aims to make the process fully automated and quick, and it’s currently available on Kickstarter.

Nike has been working on some strange new ideas. The first is a pair of shoes that activate your mind body connection through receptors in your feet. The second are powered sneakers. Oh, and there's also an inflatable coat and a super-cooling shirt.

Hoka's all-new Mafate X Hike hybrid boot aims to help adventurers fulfill some of their loftiest goals, pushing them deeper and harder into wild spaces inaccessible to ordinary mortals.

As great as fresh comfy shoes feel after an exhausting hike, the extra weight is hard to justify on a backpacking trip. Zpacks' collapsible camp shoes weigh less than 1 oz/shoe so you can afford to have a cozy place to retire those aching feet.

Hoka completely redefines urban-to-mountain footwear with the Speed Loafer – business up top, wilderness expedition down below. The new business casual slip-on marries classic leather with one of the company's most aggressive, trail-biting outsoles.

In the world of ugly shoes, we've had some real bangers. Now there's the new Syntilay, the world's first entirely AI-designed and 3D-printed piece of thermoplastic polyurethane to call itself a shoe.

Shimano has been granted a US patent on a wireless electronic cleat system for cycling shoes. The system is used to adjust the position of the shoe relative to your pedals as you ride.

People may joke about tight jeans being "spray-on pants," but On's new Cloudboom Strike LS is a spray-on running shoe. Its LightSpray production process is much faster than traditional methods, resulting in an ultra-lightweight finished product.

For a few years now, Inov-8 has been focusing in on graphene for its trail running shoes. Now it mixes a little nitrogen into the formula. The nitrogen-injected foam adds a light, soft ride and a response so reactive it almost feels like cheating.