There's been some interest lately on the construction of football boots. Now, you can see what's on the inside!

Check the Read More link below for more pics and info.



There is almost more that goes into a football boot on the inside than is visible on the outside. One of the most important things to assure good fit, comfort and performance (aside from the last) is the inner reinforcement and construction.



A properly constructed shoe, will hold its shape well, and be optimized to work with the material of the upper.



Although each style, or brand may be constructed slightly differently depending on materials, price and manufacturing method, most boots in general have the same 4 main components; upper material, foam, reinforcement, and foam.



Each material inside serves a different purpose. The upper material, as discussed earlier, here gives the overall touch, comfort and feeling of a boot.



The foam also adds some touch and feeling making the surface more soft and responsive. The non-woven material is used to help control the stretch of the upper material (all natural materials will have soem stretch because of the natrual grain structure), and the lining material also works in this way.

Digging through the hummel archives, I've just found some incredible pics! back in the 60's and early 70's the hummel brand was based in germany, and our football boots were produced in west germany.

Check out the pics of vintage football boot production. Amazingly similar to current factories in asia. While somethings change the basic method of producing shoes has actually changed little in the last 50 years.

More pics after the Read More link!



You can see the stitching machines, completed uppers ready for lasting, and even lasting machines!












More great stuff from the archive coming soon!

Of course no boot or shoe could be made (at least not yet) without stitching. During this phase of production, the various upper materials already prepared (printed, embossed, embroidered, etc.) come together in what is called a stitching line (a production line with stitching workers doing different parts/components), to tranform flat, single pieces into an (almost) whole shoe.

Click the Read More link below for more information.




During typical production, uppers are stitched and warehoused until ready for assembly. At the factory we use for our top boots however, a special production method, Lean Production, is used. In this type of production, similar to a JIT (Just In Time) production method, each step of production (cutting, stitching, lasting, assembly, etc.) is only completed when needed, usually on the same day. Thsi way, no unfinised goods are warehoused, making production time more efficient, consistent and better controlling quality.



This Lean Production, while it does have very many advantages, is also very difficult logistically to control, so it is usually only found in better, high quality factories. For complete Lean Production, all aspects from material suppliers to contracted printers, etc. must be very tighly coordinated to ensure everything is done at the right time.



In the stitching line, a number of workers will put the upper of the shoe together one part at a a time. Like a typical production line for cars, each person does just one part or task, to increase efficiency. One person may stitch the tongue together, another person will stitch the collar lining in, etc.



To help guide the stitching workers, lines are printed on the upper (as shown in the Cutting/Prep part of this series) to follow. Sometimes these lines are printed in a special ink that glows in UV lighting, as shown here.



Here you can see a worker using a hammer to hammer a reverse seam flat. When two parts are stitched together with the extra material on the inside, there is some bulk of this material. Hammering (either by hand or with a machine) helps flatted this bulk to avoid rubbing inside the shoe.






Here you can see an upper that is almost finished stitching. It is inside-out on the sewing machine, to stitch some of the last details in place. When almost complete the upper is a 3D shape, and open on the bottom, where the lasting/insole board will go.



After the uppers are completed, they are checked by QC, numbered and put into baskets to go upstairs to the next phase of production, lasting.





Materials

Cutting

Printing and HF embossing

Stitching

Lasting

Assembly

final QC and packing

In the long and difficult process of footwear development, there are always things that "dont make it", For one reason or another, styles or colorways are often cancelled throughtout the process, or before production.

In this feature, From the Crates, (which will I will be trying to make a regular thing), I will be posting some pics of cancelled styles and colorways. Sometimes its pretty obvious why they are cancelled (ugly as sin), and sometimes it's more a matter of managings SKUs, costs or production issues. Some of my favorite styles/colors eveer developed have ended up among these cancelled collectibles, never to be seen again.

First up....some alternate colorways of the Jacobsen style included in the Per Invitation Only FW06 collection that were cancelled, including some ladies colors that are among some of my favorites, but as for now, will never see the light of day.

Enjoy!

R

PS. If there's anything you see here and love, drop me an email. It has been known to happen before that styles "come back from the dead" by popular demand!...


Click the Read More link below for more pics.

Here's those original football boots I mentioned in my Old School post that inspired the latest style, Sorensen and Wein. Check the Old School post for more info and the Read More link below for more pics.



The other colorways of the Wein and Sorensen pictured below are in stores now! Old School SS06.

Another new collection from hummel! This collection, while not strictly reissues, takes inspiration and design cues from the long history of hummel teamsport footwear. Presenting some of the great stories and ideas found the hummel vaults, this collection, to be released at retail July 2006 will be the first new sport lifetyle colleciton by hummel in more than 15 years.

Click Read More link below for more pics and stories.






WIEN 64
Reissue of heritage hummel football style originally developed and named for the 1964 European Championship in Vienna, Austria in which Denmark became the surprise entry in the final tournament, joining the Soviet Union, Spain, and Hungary. Denmark finished 4th, and amazing result for the National Team's first ever appearance at a multinational championship final (World Cup or European Championship).

Slim profile and aesthetic
Original design and pattern
Printed "flying Bees" pattern
Printed Bee logo on heel

Full Grain leather / Rubber









SØRENSEN
Reissued heritage style based on an original football boot design from 1958. Original style used during the 1958 World Cup, in Sweden (the first and only World Cup ever to take place in Scandinavia). Named for Knud H. Sørensen, Cup Fighter for Danish football Cup Winners Vejle BK in 1958.

Soft Full grain upper
Pig skin collar lining, tongue lining
Contrast stitching on upper
Leather toebumper
Worn look rubber outsole
Printed Bee logo on tongue
Full Grain / Rubber









ULRICH
Classic court look inspired by the hummel tennis series of the 1980's. Named after the famous Dane, Torben Ulrich; professional tennis player, writer, philosopher, artist, and musician.

Vulcanized construction with gum rubber siped outsole
Original design and pattern
Perf Bee logo
Classic hummel logo print sockliner
Printed bee logo on heel

Nappa Soft Full Grain leather / Rubber