8.4 PIO FGX is here!

Finally! After more than 1 year in development and production the first 8.4 PIO FGX production shoes arrived today at the office direct from our warehouse (via the factory in China, of course).

The 8.4 PIO FGX has, since the project inception, been my "baby" and incorporates the culmination of several years of work in rebranding the hummel footwear product.

From the design of new box, new sockliner technology, new graphics, new hangtags, new outsole, new upper, new materials and more, I have been involved in every aspect of the 8.4 (in addition to all the other products.

Coming tomorrow and later this week, The Unboxing, and more on the thinking, and details that went into the final 8.4 PIO FGX product.

R

2007 Handball World Championship

A little late on the coverage (been so busy with ISPO and everything else, but thought I would post a few pics and comments regarding the recent XX Men's Handball World Championship held in Germany 20/01 - 03/02.

Click the Read More link below for lots more pics and info covering the WC07.




For this very special event hummel put together a exclusive marketing and sponsorship campaign, "Black in Black", sponsoring 7 teams and over 65 players at the World Championship. All sponsored teams featured the new 9.3.1 Indoor shoe in a limited Black/Gold colorway coordinated with Black/Gold accessories and uniforms on many of the teams.



What made this sponsorship special, was the inclusion of many top players on top teams that wore the black hummel shoe, despite regulations and sponsorship by other brands. Visible both on and off the court "Back in Black" hummel clearly made a strong visual presence at the WC, showing dominance and capturing attention.



Sponsored teams included-
Australia
Kuwait
Greenland
Angola
Argentina
Poland
Ukraine


Top sponsored players, Black in Black "Ambassadors" included-

Lars Christensen
Mimi Kraus
Florian Kehrmann
Joachim Boldsen
Blazenko Lackovic
Filip Jicha
Markus Baur
Marcin Lijewski
Johnny Jensen
Christian Schwarzer
Sebastian Preis



Final results saw Poland making an amazing victory and taking Second Place (Silver) at the Championship beating out many top contenders including Denmark, France and Russia!



On the First Place Germany Team, hummel players included top scorers Florian Kehrmann and Mimi Kraus, with Mimi Kraus and Marcin Lijewski (Poland) to be included on the All Star Team.

Filip Jicha was also the Championships second top scorer with 57 goals of 100 attempts.
















All in all, an amazing victory for hummel and congratulations to Poland and all hummel players and teams.

Volvo SportsDesign Forum/Award

On Sat., Feb. 3 I attended the Volvo SportsDesign Forum

The theme of the forum was Personal Design, and a wide range of design and business professionals spoke and led workshops. The interesting discussion topics ranged from customization and brand identity to business aspects and applications of personalization and micro-markets.

Speakers included -

Stefano Natoli, Head of NIKEiD EMEA
Andrej Kupetz, managing director and technical manager of the German Design Council
Stefan Jansson, Designer of the new Volvo C30
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers and designer of the Apple I and II

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




For a full list of presenters and workshops, be sure to check out Volvo SportsDesign Forum

In addition, as mentioned earlier, the hummel 8.4 PIO FGX was nominated for a design award in the footwear category. Along with the other nominees, the 8.4 PIO FGX was on display in main foyer of the forum, and later on the fair floor at ISPO for the thousands of sportswear industry professionals to view.

Unfortunately, hummel didn't take home the top spot in the Volvo SportsDesign Award, but it is a huge honor to be nominated in a category along with Nike and Adidas! Congratulations to Nike+ for the win.

UPDATE - I have just arranged my attendance at the Volvo SportsDesign Forum/Award Ceremony 3 Feb, 2007 in Munich and at the ISPO Fair 4-5 Feb.

If anyone is going to the forum/fair and would like to hook up, feel free to drop me a line at rkuchinsky@gmail.com

R

8.4 PIO FGX nominated for Volvo SportsDesign Award at ISPO 2007

The 8.4 PIO FGX has just been nominated for a Volvo SportsDesign Award to be presented at ISPO 2007, February 3 in Munich.

The competition honors the best products focused on the theme "Personal Design".

Check out the competition here Volvo SportsDesign AWARD