The agate project
Tecnica introduces Agate, the first fast hiking shoe designed within the Women To Women initiative, with the support of scientific evidence.
Made for fast hiking and exploring all types of technical mountain terrain, the new Agate has been designed according to women’s specific anatomy and requirements, combining comfort, flexibility and cushioning in a fresh, lightweight, protective design.
Women’s feet are different to men’s feet.
In the past, foot-shaped moulds or shoe lasts, which formed the basis for the fit and feel of a shoe, were only based on men’s feet. However, women’s feet are a different shape from men’s feet. When developing the new Agate, Tecnica designers started by investigating how to better understand women’s different anatomy, and deliver the specific features that women’s feet require:
- Women’s feet have a more triangular shape with a lower volume and narrower heel bone than men's; shoes with wide, unstable heels can impede women’s bodies’ natural ability to absorb impact force when the foot strikes the ground and re-use in the push-off to generate forward propulsion;
- The female foot arch is generally higher – women need more underfoot support;
- Women are generally lighter than men and experience less impact during foot strikes, since they have less mass to compress the cushioning inside a shoe, they need a softer landing;
- Women’s feet have a very different overall footprint to men’s;
- Women’s feet tend to have a shorter ball-to-heel length and a higher instep.
What women want
The W2W dedicated focus group, led by podiatry expert and footwear specialist Samantha Tischendorf, worked with women of various backgrounds and ages in a research and development project to actively involve them in the design of the new Agate shoe.
“For too long, the gender gap in scientific research has left women underrepresented in product research”, explains Samantha Tischendorf “When it comes to performance shoes, most of the research has been dedicated to men.
Tecnica's mantra is that products must adapt to people, not the opposite. So, we decided it was time to place women's needs right at the heart of this project and make sure we asked the right questions.”
To test the prototypes developed based on their specific requirements, and validate its scientific approach, Tecnica partnered with the independent, internationally-renowned CeRiSM research centre at the University of Verona. The test protocol included several stages: group discussions and static indoor testing; dynamic indoor treadmill testing with biomechanical and kinematic analysis; scientific questionnaires, and dynamic outdoor testing.
GALLERY
Agate is the scientific answer.
The result of Tecnica's gender-specific approach is the new women’s specialist fast-hiking shoe Agate. “In the new Agate, we engineered scientific-based solutions to answer women's specific needs”, explains Adriano Rossato, Tecnica outdoor manager.
“These shoes have been designed around a female last, based on an anatomical mould of a woman’s foot, to cope with the lower volume and the more triangular shape of the feet.
Given that women have a higher foot arch, the Agate has greater underfoot support. And since women generate less impact during foot strikes, we built a more flexible shoe that can still adapt to a wide range of terrain.”