A shoe including a sole and an upper, the upper including a shoe opening defined by a rear part, a medial part, a lateral part and a front part, where the top portion of the rear part is curved backward and diagonally upward relative to the bottom portion of the rear part, to facilitate forward sliding of a user's foot into the shoe when the foot enters the s

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

An article of footwear with a medial contact portion disposed on the medial side of the article is described. The medial contact portion includes a plurality of raised elements that extend outwards from the surface of the upper on the medial side. The raised elements are configured to contact a ball during passing or trapping to absorb and dampen forces associated with the impact of the ball with the article to provide cushioning. The sizing and spacing arrangement of the raised elements on the medial contact portion provide sufficient surface area to allow a portion of the surface of the upper to contact a ball. In one embodiment, the upper is made from a synthetic leather material that has substantially the same coefficient of friction under dry conditions and wet conditions.

An upper for an article of footwear includes a base layer, an exterior layer, a first strap, and a second strap. The exterior layer at least partially covers an outer side of the base layer and defines a first aperture and a second aperture both in a forefoot region. Each strap includes a central portion, a front branch, and a rear branch, the front and rear branches disposed between the outer side of the base layer and the exterior layer. The front branch of the second strap crosses the rear branch of the first strap and is disposed forward of the rear branch of the first strap at the lower extent of the base layer. The central portion of the first strap extends through the first aperture and defines a first loop, and the central portion of the second strap extends through the second aperture and defines a second loop.

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 method of manufacturing at least a part of a footwear in an automatic manufacturing line includes providing a footwear part in the form of a leather base layer, providing a footwear part in the form of a leather attachment layer, automatically stacking the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other with an intermediate application of adhesive between them, automatically activating the adhesive, automatically forcing the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other under a pressure with the adhesive between them, curing the adhesive and thereby bonding the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer to each other thereby providing at least a part of a footwear upper.

Disclosed is a shoe upper with an illuminating logo. The upper includes a main body part, a logo part, and a lighting unit, in which the logo part for illumination may be formed integrally with the upper, providing the upper with an illumination feature. In this way, the upper with an illuminating logo can be manufactured with a reduced amount of time, leading to an improved manufacturing efficiency. In addition, the logo part is much less likely to come off and there is no need for an adhesive or bonding, creating an aesthetically attractive appearance from outside.

An article of footwear includes an upper and a ball control region. The ball control region is formed on an exterior surface of the upper and includes at least one ball control pad having a ball control panel attached to and spaced apart from the upper by one or more flexible elements.

An article of footwear may include an upper that has a plurality of discrete sections secured to one another. Each discrete section may include a base layer and a cover layer. Each cover layer may be secured to and may cover the outer side of a corresponding base layer. Each cover layer may be configured to be selectively removable from the base layer independently of each other cover layer to expose the outer side of the base layer. A method of manufacturing the article of footwear may include providing the plurality of base layers and providing the plurality of cover layers. The method may further include securing the cover layers to the base layers so that the cover layers cover the outer sides of the base layers.

An upper is formed using a fiber sheet that includes: a connected part in which a surface layer and an inner layer are connected to each other; and a non-connected part in which these layers are not connected to each other, in order to provide a shoe having a low risk of causing complicated production processes or discharge of a large amount of waste materials even when shoes with a large number of different types are produced.