A Louisiana-based shoe startup has another way to deal with footwear plan.
Hygra’s new tennis shoe line includes a special water-based padded sole padding framework named H2OPrO — a non-compressed underneath water case that gives solace, backing and energy return. Made by Eulexis Anderson, the assortment’s most memorable shoe, the Hydronaut, sent off with a Kickstarter crusade this prior week it stirs things up around town in spring 2024.
“I’ve been a sneakerhead for quite a while, since my teenage years, and I’ve tested out everything” from air cushioning systems like the Nike Air Max to the Adidas Boost, made from expanded thermoplastic polyurethane, Anderson told Sourcing Journal. “I’ve was curious as to why no one ever tried water—it’s such a unique compound and it runs our planet,” he said. “I was generally curious about how it feels to walk on it, and we were up for the challenge of making that happen.”
With the assistance of footwear fashioner and engineer Imprint Britton, a veteran of Adidas, Palladium Shoes and Sorel, Anderson fostered the idea for Hygra and the Hydronaut. Water is the throughline across the shoe’s whole development, from material and designed nubuck uppers produced using reused sea plastics to a padded sole unit made with Blossom green growth based froth.
As per Anderson, the outline and its parts mirror the brand’s obligation to sea protection. The examples on the uppers are suggestive of water addressed on a geological guide, and every one of the Hydronaut’s three variety ways are named for “the most powerful rivers in the world” — the Amazon, the Nile and the Mississippi.
Subsequent to creating running shoes, artful dance pads, climate resistant winter boots and additional during his two-decade profession, Britton said he was prepared for an original solicitation to provoke his curiosity. “Anything that is going to be challenging or interesting is a project that I try and take on,” he said.
The accomplices experienced a few impediments during the plan interaction. “One of the biggest was keeping the shoe flexible” despite the water capsule in its midsole, Britton said. “We had to develop the right compound for the container, and do it in a manner that sealed the water so it wouldn’t grow mold or algae.”Steadiness segments in the water case guarantee that it keeps up with its unique shape while offering persevering through help, he added. The units are additionally cleaned and filled to hold air and different particles back from meddling.
The outcome is a shoe that the accomplices said feels dissimilar to others available, conveying both immovability and adaptability. As well as guaranteeing that the shoe proceeded as planned, Anderson needed to exhibit its most convincing component through plan. The water container is noticeable through patterns on the padded sole, as well as a one of a kind “window” on the sole. “I wanted to add that as a cool marketing detail—when someone is walking in front of you and you see the bottom of the foot lifting up from the back, you will see that window and it drives curiosity about what they’re wearing,” he said.
Hygra’s Kickstarter mission will run for 30 days from its Nov. 14 send off, and plans to raise $25,000 to finance extra shoe form buys. It has raised $732 starting around Wednesday evening. Presently just accessible in a men’s size 9, Anderson said he plans to send off the brand the following spring with a regular run for men in sizes 7-14, as well as ladies’ sizes. The subsidizing will likewise assist Hygra with repeating on its H2OPrO padding framework with its Dongguan, China creation accomplices and refine its general plan. The underlying creation run will send in mid 2024, and he desires to take the shoes making a course for occasions like Complex Con, where participants are typically keen on the most recent development.
Kickstarter benefactors can buy the Hydronaut in two variety ways — Desert garden, a blend of tan, dark and blue-green, and Vanilla Ice sheet, a denim blue and eggshell white mix — at a limited cost of $225. A third variety way, 12 PM Tempest, which consolidates regal purple, dim and white, is at present being developed. Made for easygoing wear, Anderson said he said he imagines the Hydronaut as an “everyday lifestyle shoe.”
“Instead of trying to sell the product on use cases, I think it’s important to connect with the end user from an inspirational point of view,” he said. “If you can walk on water, you can pretty much do anything.”