A lace-receiving assembly includes a substrate, a first sheet, and a lace guide. The substrate includes a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The first sheet includes a third surface and a fourth surface opposite the third surface. The third surface is bonded to the first surface to define a channel extending between the substrate and the first sheet. The lace guide is disposed within the channel.

An article of footwear includes a textile component. The textile component of the upper includes a textile element and a tensile element. The tensile element defines a first segment disposed on a first side of the upper. The first segment of the tensile element is configured to attach the securement device to the textile element on the first side of the upper. The tensile element further includes a second segment that is disposed proximate the lower portion of the upper on the second side. The second segment is fixed relative to the lower portion of the upper on the second side. The tensile element further includes an intermediate segment that extends continuously from the first segment, across the heel region, to the second segment.

A shoe body-forming piece includes an upper portion including an instep portion and a pair of heel portions separately disposed on one side of the instep portion to make the upper portion have a substantially U-shaped configuration outlined by a perimeter edge and an inner edge; and a shoe-sleeve portion having a connection side at least partially connected to the inner edge, wherein the upper portion and the shoe-sleeve portion are knitted from at least one yarn to form a unitary knit construction with a plurality of courses and wales, so that the shoe body-forming piece does not have any sewing portion as the knitting process is completed; when the shoe body-forming piece is processed to form a shoe body, the upper portion corresponds to a fore portion, a lateral portion, and a heel portion of a foot, and the shoe-sleeve portion corresponds to an ankle portion of the foot.

An article of apparel includes a base layer defined by a Poisson's ratio, and a polymer structure coupled to the base layer. The polymer structure is configured to lower the Poisson's ratio of the base layer. The polymer structure includes a plurality of interconnected members forming an array of cell units. The plurality of interconnected members form cell walls with interior recesses defined within the cell walls.

An article of footwear may have an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper. The upper includes a base layer, a plurality of strand segments, and a deposition layer. The base layer has a first surface and an opposite second surface. The strand segments are located adjacent to the first surface and extend substantially parallel to the first surface for a distance of at least five centimeters. The deposition layer is deposited upon the first surface and the strand segments, and the deposition layer is joined with the first surface and the strand segments. The deposition layer is applied using a screen printing process. Different inks can be used during the screen printing process to form the deposition layer and an indicia layer.

There is provided an instep cover in which various designs can be provided on a side surface portion of the instep cover even when a shoelace holding section is provided, and a shoe upper including the instep cover. In a shoe upper (100) configuring a shoe, an instep cover (1) that covers a portion on an instep side of a wearer includes a slit (5S) extending from a foot insertion opening for the wearer to insert a foot toward a toe, and a shoelace holding section (4) that holds a shoelace for adjusting a spacing of the slit (5S). The shoelace holding section (4) includes a holding unit (4U) configured by a hole (4h) formed in a slit edge region (11) that shapes the slit (5S), and an annular strap (4s) being formed to an annular shape by connecting one end and the other end of a lace-like body to the slit edge region (11) and having a length that can be pulled out from the hole (4h) when an intermediate portion of the lace-like body is brought to a position of the hole (4h).

In certain aspects, the inventive subject matter is directed to production of constructs of footwear and components thereof by jet extrusion. The inventive subject matter contemplates novel processes for making such constructs using jets or streams of materials that solidify as fibers, and which form into two- or three-dimensional webs as they are collected. The webs may be in the nature of films, membranes, or mats. In some embodiments, the inventive subject matter generally relates to nonwoven textiles consisting of webs of superfine fibers, i.e., fibers with diameters in nanoscale or micronscale ranges.

A shoe upper of a shoe includes first and second shoe upper sections together surrounding a foot, while covering a tiptoe and a heel of the foot, and a protector provided on part of an outer surface of the second shoe upper section and made of a single type of abrasion resistant resin material. The protector includes a tiptoe protector arranged to correspond to a tiptoe portion of the second shoe upper section, and a medial region protector provided on a medial region, of the second shoe upper section, extending from a backend of the tiptoe protector to a portion of the midfoot. The medial region protector has a deformable portion which has a mesh structure and is more deformable than the tiptoe protector, and a plurality of reinforcement ribs which divide the deformable portion into a plurality of regions.