Run like the world depends on it

We wanted to make a shoe that could compete with the market’s highest performing everyday running shoes but with a fraction of the environmental impact through the use of biobased material innovation. A shoe that could be your go-to running shoe for everyday training, running a marathon or even an ultra.

We set out by building the brief for a shoe that we didn’t think existed: a daily running shoe that not only provides high performance, but that also utilises biobased materials over petroleum derived plastics and prioritises exceptional design, proving that sustainability doesn’t have to result in compromise.

Once the brief was finalised, we moved into the design phase. At hylo, we create with a materials first mindset, drawing on the backgrounds and expertise of the product team members to create a stand out design using the industry's most innovative performance fabrics.

We worked with a biomechanical engineer to create PureGlide™, our proprietary midsole geometry that was derived from data, ensuring the optimum proportions of neutral stability and increased propulsion. Inspired by textures and patterns within nature, we incorporated tree-like lines into the midsole to contrast against its angular shape.

Inspired by Product Director and co-founder, Jorma, and his background in the automotive industry, looking at car tyres and their ability to displace water, the cutouts between the rubber panels not only reduce weight but also increase traction by dissipating water through the grooves to avoid aquaplaning.

We prioritised comfort, softness and support but also wanted to make sure the material and structure was light and breathable. We worked with our supplier on an industry leading material made from castor beans, to create two structures that would provide the desired comfort and soft hand feel but also the performance.

Once the design and the materials had been approved on an initial sample, it was at this point we could proceed with a larger sample run for lab and wear testing. This stage is absolutely crucial in validating the performance of our shoe. The hylo Impact was lab-tested at component and finished goods level - meaning each component is fit for purpose and validated against a set of testing criteria. The lab feeds back on whether each component, and the entire product, has passed through enough cycles of abrasion and various other durability, performance and quality tests.

Following this, we carried out arguably the most critical test, the wear test. We built out our Champion wear-test programme, ranging from elite to everyday athletes, all racking up varying degrees of mileage with different running gaits and frequency. They provide direct feedback to us on a variety of topics such as cushioning, rebound, comfort, weight, support, feel, look and how the shoe affects their bodies and their running.

Whilst the wear testing was underway, we spent multiple weeks working closely with the factory and our supply chain to optimise the production process, making sure that materials are kept in the loop as much as possible, that sea and land transportation is used instead of air freight and that production waste and off-cuts are re-used where possible. We see this as imperative during the development process to make sure that we have a high level of transparency and close relationships with our suppliers.

After two years of research and development, collaboration, highly skilled design and biomechanical engineering, as well as rigorous lab testing, wear testing and sampling, we had made our confirmation sample ready for production. The hylo IMPACT, a shoe that sits (or runs) at the intersection of high performance and sustainability, proving that nature can perform, without compromising on quality, aesthetics and more importantly, your runs.

Our product team is constantly researching and developing ways to improve performance, reduce impact and increase the bio content to eventually eliminate the use of plastic, one shoe at a time.