A footwear article includes a hinged portion in a heel region that may be biased in various positions to increase or decrease a size of a foot-insertion opening. The hinged portion may be arranged in a first position, in which the hinged portion is more upright and is in position to cup a wearer's heel or Achilles region when the footwear article is worn. In addition, the hinged portion may be rotated downward or rearwardly (e.g., away from the foot-insertion opening) to a second position, which may increase a size of the foot-insertion opening and/or may change an angle along which a foot can pass through the foot-insertion opening when the footwear article is being donned or doffed. One or more elastic members may be attached to the hinged portion and to some other portion of the footwear article to bias the hinged portion.

A footwear article includes a hinged portion in a heel region that may be biased in various positions to increase or decrease a size of a foot-insertion opening. The hinged portion may be arranged in a first position, in which the hinged portion is more upright and is in position to cup a wearer's heel or Achilles region when the footwear article is worn. In addition, the hinged portion may be rotated downward or rearwardly (e.g., away from the foot-insertion opening) to a second position, which may increase a size of the foot-insertion opening and/or may change an angle along which a foot can pass through the foot-insertion opening when the footwear article is being donned or doffed. One or more elastic members may be attached to the hinged portion and to some other portion of the footwear article to bias the hinged portion.

A shoe upper having a plurality of arms that expand the shoe opening when the topline of the upper is compressed toward the sole portion of the shoe.

Comfortable, protective, durable, and lightweight footwear with minimal component parts. Both the footwear and the method of constructing the same is streamlined.

Described are shoes for ball sports including an upper having an outer surface. An actuator is configured to change at least one surface property of a portion of the outer surface of the upper, and a sensor is configured to be sensitive to movements of the shoe. A processing unit is connected to the actuator and the sensor and configured to process sensor data retrieved from the sensor and to cause the actuator to change the at least one surface property of the portion of the outer surface of the upper if a predetermined event is detected in the sensor data.

A sole structure may include chambers and a transfer channel containing an electrorheological fluid. Electrodes may be positioned to create, in response to a voltage across the electrodes, an electrical field in at least a portion of the electrorheological fluid in the transfer channel. The sole structure may further include a controller including a processor and memory. At least one of the processor and memory may store instructions executable by the processor to perform operations that include maintaining the voltage across the electrodes at one or more flow-inhibiting levels at which flow of the electrorheological fluid the through the transfer channel is blocked, and that further include maintaining the voltage across the electrodes at one or more flow-enabling levels permitting flow of the electrorheological fluid through the transfer channel.

A foldable shoe includes a first sole section located under the ball of a wearer's foot including a first outsole portion and a first footbed. The foldable shoe further includes a second sole section located under the heel of a wearer's foot, the second sole section including a second outsole portion and a second footbed. An upper section extends from the first sole section, and a hinge is connected to the first sole section and the second sole section and is configured to fold the foldable shoe from a first position, to be worn, to a second position, for storage. A first magnetic material disposed in the first sole section and a second magnetic material disposed in the second sole section creates a magnetic connection to retain the foldable shoe in first position or second position.

Design for footwear in the form of a slide that is designed to be made up of several parts or components. All or a subset of these are manufactured by one or more manufacturers and provided to another party for assembly in a location that is “local” to a point of sale. The assembly of the separate or modular parts or components produces a slide that is suitable for sale to and for wear by the purchaser or end user. One or more of the parts or components provided to the assembling party is in the form of a blank that can be modified to provide local customization while other embodiments will have that customized part or component manufactured locally for later assembly. Further, the new design for slides includes one or more features that allow the end user or wearer to adjust the size and fit of each slide.

A rapid-entry shoe having an upper, a sole portion, and at least one pocket coupled to a rear portion of the upper and encapsulating a compressed medium that biases a topline of the shoe toward an uncollapsed configuration.