Interview with Annalaura Gatto, Marketing Manager of Vibram Work & Safety dept., the well-known Italian com- pany that has become a global leader in the production of rubber soles which has chosen to build an internal cross-functional team of professionals entirely dedicated to the safety at work sector; the aim is to overseeing in an increasingly effective way a growing sector, particularly focused on performance.
Annalaura Gatto, Vibram Marketing Manager Emea del settore Work & Safety
We have had them on our feet at least once, supporting us in our sporting adventures or during our outdoor activities. Vibram, acronym of Vitale Bramani, who founded the company back in 1937, in just a few years became synonymous with performance and the alter ego of the world’s best-selling sole, the lug-sole. This sealed its success by tackling one of the most demanding challenges at the edge of the sky, which was conquering the second highest peak on our planet: K2, and it was successful. Sixty-nine years have passed since then but Vibram has continued its exciting journey of technological innovation, revolutionising many sectors, including sports, outdoor, lifestyle and safety footwear, without ever stopping.
Shall we start with a bit of history?
“The current site in which we are now is the historic production site, inaugurated way back in 1957 by the founder Vitale Bramani. Our history is rooted in a brilliant entrepreneurial intuition, which led to the creation of a highly successful company. Vitale Bramani’s passions were many, but his great attention to the mountain world stood out, so much that, in addition to being an academic at the Italian Alpine Club, he owned a sporting goods store and spent his free time carving wood and drawing. His devotion to sport led him to embark on the biggest adventure of his life, giving birth to the Vibram brand. The tragic event that occurred in 1935 during an excursion to Punta Rasica, in which six hikers lost their lives due to adverse weather conditions, was the trigger that prompted Vitale Bramani to rethink the equipment used for mountain excursions. In particular, the type of footwear used at the time was inadequate for those conditions, and this encouraged the founder to study the problem in depth. His inspiration was to create a vulcanised rubber sole able to guarantee greater traction, facilitating movement and, above all, offering insulation and protection to the foot. That’s how Vibram was born, in 1936.”
This changed history…
“The revolutionary invention conceived by Vitale Bramani changed the course of history and led to a significant innovation in the footwear sector. Among the regular customers of his shop there were also many friends, including a Pirelli executive, whom Bramani shared his idea with. Struck by his enthusiasm, he decided to offer the technologies of his company for the development of the project. It is said that Bramani manufactured the first sole prototype using wood: in 1937, the famous lug sole was created, still today among the best-selling in the world. Despite the existence of countless sole designs, the lug still represents an optimal choice in the outdoor world in terms of grip and traction.”
From land to the sky: how did Vibram come to conquer the K2 summit?
“Vitale Bramani was deeply engaged in the expedition by supplying the soles to Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni, who had ambitiously planned to reach the summit of K2. Vibram created three different soles for Dolomite who, in turn, made the footwear that accompanied the expedition on each of its stages. The sole that made it to the summit of K2 and won a place in history was the lug-sole, made by Vibram.
How much has the lug-sole changed since then?
“When we talk about a sole, we always have to take into account two different aspects: one is the design, i.e. the tread pattern; the other aspect is the compound that makes it up, i.e. the mix of components that define the rubber of the sole. Over the years, the lug design has changed very little, naturally adapting to the evolution of footwear shapes. What has changed a great deal is the technology behind the compounds. Our R&D team is constantly engaged in the creation of new compounds, as these are closely linked to the grip performance and wear resistance of the footwear. They vary a lot depending on the sector of application: for the outdoor sector we need footwear that is more comfortable, softer, lighter, so expanded compounds are used; in the sports sector, where different performances are required based on the specifics of the discipline, they are made to offer the best grip and durability according to the terrain and environmental conditions in which the shoe will be used.
In the world of accident prevention, on the other hand, an even greater specificity is required since the compounds, in addition to having to work well in extreme environmental conditions, must guarantee excellent performance often at very high or very low temperatures and must, at the same time, satisfy all the conditions required by European regulations.
The lug design represents an important milestone in the history of Vibram, but it is important to underline that we still produce between 250 and 300 different sole designs, both those developed exclusively for some specific brands, and those we own, which we sell to all interested brands.”
How has the technology changed?
“Speaking as an employee who’s been working year for 14 years, I can ascertain that Vibram soles technology has changed a lot, also relating to production. But even though today we have the most innovative and technologically advanced machinery, t it is important to underline that the manual component is still of essential importance in many steps of the production process. Think about trimming the soles or loading the moulds: in these steps, the human element still makes the difference to guarantee the umost precision and quality of the products. In short, the experience and skills of our operators represent an irreplaceable added value in the production of our soles.”
Also in terms of quality, correct?
“We believe human intervention is essential to ensure precise and accurate control, especially regarding the visual aspect of our products. To this end, some of our colleagues are engaged in specific inspection tasks, during which they carefully examine all the soles produced. This control activity cannot be carried out by any type of machinery, as it requires the skill and sensitivity of an expert operator to guarantee the top quality of our products.”
We always talk about sustainability: what is your approach at Vibram?
“We are concentrating our energy on how to reuse waste materials, another very important job that the company has been doing for a few years now. In reality we have always given great attention to respecting the environment. It couldn’t be any different from a great mountain enthusiast as Vitale. I don’t like to talk about sustainability only as a linguistic term. It is a very overused word. Among our keywords is the word heritage, which reminds us of our origins. Since our history was created in the mountains and our core business is that, it is fundamental for us to respect the environment. Back in 1994, thirty years ago, Vibram introduced a sustainable technology called Ecostep to the market. A very complicated process that allowed us to make soles with around 30% recycled rubber. Over the years, the Ecostep project has been optimised and has evolved into Ecostep Natural, the result of very complex research and development work aimed mainly at the accident prevention sector, which increasingly demands eco-friendly products”.
How are tests carried out on Vibram soles?
“Our company has an in-house team of highly qualified testers, made up of biomechanical engineers and sports science graduates, whose daily task is to test all the new soles, often coordinating teams of outside specialists and professional athletes. The Vibram tester team is also involved in developing test protocols aimed at objectifying the results of human trials. Our goal is not to simply reach the reference standard levels, but to constantly exceed them, to guarantee an excellent product. Our soles undergo through three levels of tests: laboratory tests, including specific ones for the safety sector, which are carried out both in-house and through outside certifiers; the in vivo tests carried out in our test park, where we use baropodometric platforms, force platforms and ramps with different inclinations and with surfaces that reproduce the most common walk surfaces. Finally, the outdoor tests, entrusted to specialized athletes and testers. Every feedback provided by our team of testers allows us to constantly improve product development. For safety shoes, the testing process is particularly long and accurate, as the sole represents an essential component for the safety of the operators. As a matter of fact, in addition to the legal certifications, each stage of production goes through strict controls to ensure utmost reliability and safety. Finally, the final product test guarantees the highest quality and reliability of our soles.”
The safety industry is a huge growth sector. Is it the same for you?
“The accident prevention sector for Vibram represents the second reference market after the outdoor. Globally, it accounts for about 30% of the company’s total turnover, against 50% of the sports turnover. Specifically, in Europe it is worth around 15-20% with a huge possibility of growth as it is a new industry.
We foresee excellent growth opportunities especially in the sector of outdoor jobs, the more extreme ones, where the choice of performance is not an optional, but a need, such as the construction sector, mining, forestry, work at high altitude and agriculture. Lately, precisely because the market is maturing, there are specific areas, albeit indoors, where resistance, grip, traction, comfort are becoming increasingly important and Vibram is able to guarantee these requirements, offering ad-hoc technologies. These are, for example, jobs in the warehouse, automotive, and sectors such as medical and HORECA. These sectors are new for us at the moment but we see an excellent growth opportunity – the top players are already asking us for solutions.”
What does being innovative mean for Vibram?
“Our approach involves first of all a constant challenge to our own goals. We are not satisfied with the levels of grip, traction and durability achieved, although they are already excellent, but we always want to improve and redefine new standards in order to pursue a continuous improvement of our products: this is how technologies such as Megagrip, Arctic Grip, Litebase and Traction Lug were born.
In order to offer real innovations to the consumer, it is essential to foresee and anticipate the needs of the market, and we do this through an unceasing and constant study of the consumer and the end use for which our technologies are intended. Vibram soles are designed and developed according to the specific needs of the various application sectors, such as accident prevention or sports. This attention allows us to offer differentiated solutions, able to satisfy the specific needs of each area. The careful study of the final consumer represents an essential element for us, as it allows us to understand his needs and to develop solutions capable of fully satisfying them. Our constant pursuit of excellence allows us to develop innovative and cutting-edge solutions, which place us at the forefront of the industry. For example, we have collaborated with Diadora to develop a top-of-the-range product using our revolutionary Vibram Litebase technology, a highly sophisticated solution originally designed for the world of outdoor sports, but which we have adapted with complex research and development work to the world of accident prevention. Vibram Litebase technology has helped to redefine the standards of lightness in safety shoes as it allows the thickness of the sole to be reduced without compromising its performance. Thanks to this technology, we were able to achieve a 50% weight reduction compared to traditional soles, while maintaining the performance of grip, traction and durability.”
What are you most recognised by in the market today?
“When we ask the end consumer what they associate with the word Vibram, the immediate answer is mountaineering, mountains and sport. We like this very much, it is intrinsically linked to our heritage, it is our history. The trust that our brand inspires and the performance that we are able to guarantee are fully recognized by the consumer. The Vibram sole is found on top-of-the-range brands and on the best performing product lines. Workers looking for safety, performance and comfort will recognize the difference that the sole with the yellow octagon can make. In this sense, our goal is to never disappoint consumer expectations. We want to further consolidate our position of leadership and excellence in the market, offering innovative and cutting-edge solutions capable of satisfying the specific needs for each area of application and always renewing our promise which is to offer ‘confidence in every step’.”
www.vibram.com
