ADIDAS was the front runner with its Ultra Boost range of technical Merino wool sports shoes, but now other leading manufacturers are hot on the company's heels.
California-based Athletic Propulsion Labs (APL) is the latest to incorporate Australian technical Merino wool yarns in creating a shoe suited to a range of sports and lifestyle activities.
APL has partnered with Australian Wool Innovation's marketing arm, The Woolmark Company, to launch the APL TechLoom Breeze Merino wool range of high performance sport shoe and luxury sneaker for men and women.
Available online for local consumers, it is claimed to be APL's most sustainable and lightest running shoe to date and is marketed with the slogan 'Run sock-free'.
APL's is the first technical-knit footwear to be certified by The Woolmark Company in the global market.
Innovative design and manufacture enhances wool's natural breathability, allowing for a seamless design for the entire shoe, including a breathable sole, which keeps the wearer's feet dry and comfortable.
According to The Woolmark Company, each shoe features 80 per cent Australian Merino wool, innovatively knitted with APL's patented, stretch-rebound TechLoom upper, meaning the shoe is knitted to its final shape.
It is claimed this delivers greater elasticity, strengthens the shoe and allows it to naturally hug the foot for maximum support, especially during performance and sports lifestyle activities.
It also allows for seamless design features such as breathable panels.
In contrast to synthetic sports shoes, the wool fibre's natural moisture wicking characteristic allows it to absorb large quantities of moisture vapour and then allows it to evaporate, helping keep feet cool during intense activity and warm when resting.
As well, the moisture wicking helps control odour, with the Merino wool absorbing and locking away odour molecules from sweat, which are only released when the shoe is washed.
The sneaker range also incorporates 100pc Merino wool yarn as an inner surface layer for increased comfort.
The latest spinning technology also offers special technical blends by incorporating innovative filament-wrapped wool yarns for strength and to add resistance to abrasion and extend the wear of the shoe.
An elite athletic footwear brand, APL was founded in 2009 by then 23-year-old identical twins Adam and Ryan Goldston, two former sport collegiate athletes who played basketball and football at the University of Southern California.
Their first shoe design, the Concept 1 basketball shoe, became the first shoe banned in the National Basketball Association's 64-year history for performance reasons.
It was considered its revolutionary sole design was "providing an undue competitive advantage" by enabling the wearer to jump higher than players wearing other brands of sport shoe.
Adam Goldston said the APL TechLoom Breeze Merino wool sports shoe and sneaker range was the result of extensive collaboration with The Woolmark Company and more than 18 months of engineering and testing.
"We teamed up with The Woolmark Company to engineer and create our most sustainable shoe to date," Mr Goldston said.
"Australian Merino wool is a naturally sustainable super-fibre that helps protect against odour, is incredibly strong, yet is light enough to be worn during all of your workouts and has beautiful hand feel and texture.
"This is just the beginning of many more innovations to come from APL in the coming months and years," he said.
Australian Merino wool is also being incorporated into lifestyle shoes in India, with Neeman's becoming India's first footwear brand to include Merino wool in everyday shoes.
Neeman's has also partnered with The Woolmark Company and is strongly promoting the environmental credentials, sustainability and comfort of its washable wool footwear.
Its range comprises joggers, sneakers and elegant loafers in subtle colours using fine Australian Merino wool.
