BMW/Puma footwear JV copies car of the future
Munich, Germany – BMW and PUMA have jointly launched a running shoe inspired by a 2008 concept car called the BMW GINA Light Visionary Model.
The concept car’s bodywork, as reported previously at UTECH-polyurethane.com, was covered with a flexible PU composite skin that could be shaped by will, conditions or speed of travel.
Designed by BMW’s Designworks, the Puma X-Cat shoe has transformed the shape-shifting concept car into footwear.
The shoe is made of a fabric outer shell made of polyurethane-coated elastane fibre stretched over a movable substructure, the same material used for the GINA concept car.
The material of the shoe is made of the same flexible, ergonomic and lightweight fabric used on the GINA, paired with Puma’s Disc technology in which traditional laces are replaced by a rotating disc that pulls on an internal wire to close and open the shoe.
BMW Group’s senior vp of design Adrian van Hooydonk said: “The approach was to look at every aspect of making a shoe and try to reimagine it, freeing yourself of what is here now can be an enjoyable and rewarding exercise, typically it also speeds up change.
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