Provided herein are methods for the modulation of appearance or material properties within items of apparel or equipment. Also provided herein are design articles having alterable designs.

A bimodal heel counter apt for a rapid entry and release footwear devices, that includes a flexible hollow hemisphere portion, a heel tab, a secondary heel tab, a back sole base, an anchor system, and dependent fastening elements. The bimodal heel counter and dependent fastening systems are biased to one of two stable positions, which elastically morphs by stored potential energy with applied force from one position to the other, configured to collectively snap a footwear device between an open and closed position, for donning and doffing, or securing the foot as to enable active footwear use.

A footwear accessory overlays and mimics the upper part of the cowboy boot to alter the appearance of the boot as if the wearer is wearing a boot with a different design and presentation (via the designs & colors and other aspects) than the actual boot being worn. The footwear accessory is shaped and designed to mimic the upper portion of the underlying cowboy boot and it not be an obvious overlay.

A rapid-entry shoe includes an actuator arm, having a pivot point, and a closure system. Movement of the actuator arm from an uncollapsed position to a collapsed position opens the closure system and movement of the actuator arm from the collapsed position to the uncollapsed position closes the closure system, according to various embodiments.

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.

An article of footwear includes a sole structure, a footwear upper, and a closure system. The sole structure may have a front sole portion and a rear sole portion pivotable relative to the front sole portion between a use position and an access position. The footwear upper may be fixed to the front sole portion and to the rear sole portion. The closure system may comprise an adjustment cord and a cord lock. The adjustment cord may be operatively secured to the footwear upper at an anchor location. The cord lock may be secured to the footwear upper and may be configured so that the adjustment cord slides through the cord lock when under tension to tighten the footwear upper in the use position, and the adjustment cord is repositionable relative to the cord lock to lock to the cord lock and retain tension in the adjustment cord.

Disclosed is a shoe having a compressible lattice structure in a heel portion to facilitate rapid, easy donning and doffing of shoes. In example embodiments, the lattice structure includes a plurality of interconnected, overlapping, intersecting and/or woven ribs defining a plurality of apertures. The lattice structure has an open position in which the shoe opening is expanded to facilitate reception of a foot of an individual wearing the rapid-entry shoe, and a closed position in which the shoe opening is smaller to retain the foot within the rapid-entry shoe.

Footwear comprising a sole portion; an upper portion secured to the sole portion; and a top portion secured to the upper portion through the use of a magnet included with the top portion and a magnet included with the upper portion.

A bimodal shoe having a bimodal structure, the bimodal structure configured to selectively snap to at least one of a second position and a first position. The bimodal structure is a bendable structure that selectively snaps into the first position upon being subjected to a first bending force, and that selectively snaps into the second position upon being subjected to a second bending force, where the first bending force has an opposite direction to the second bending force. A downward force applied to a heel counter of the bimodal shoe while holding portions of the shoe forward from the bimodal structure stationary causes the bimodal structure to snap out of the second position.

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.