The footwear brand, founded in 1885 in the Marche region, has successfully combined traditional “handmade” craftsmanship with the use of the most advanced technologies, while maintaining the excellent quality of Made in Italy. At Milan Fashion Week, it presented its new collection for next summer. SS26 brings to the fore a constant dialogue between continuity and innovation, where classic shapes intertwine with sporty accents that reinterpret the codes of style. The collection experiments and dares, introducing models that combine fine materials, precious details and colour contrasts, designed to accompany both everyday life and more sophisticated occasions with natural ease.
The collection features slingbacks made contemporary by exotic textures, jewelled sabots enriched with new colour shades and feminine models that enhance the season with bright colours and bold accents. A special addition to the collection is a women’s sandal built on the sole of a heeled moccasin, taken from the SS 2003 archives and reinterpreted with a contemporary twist.
Miurakami footwear is born from a creative obsession: to create a shoe that you wear and don’t feel, but that you never want to take off. The brand’s mission is to create a “feeling of comfortable beauty” through the use of high-quality materials that fit like a second skin, seams designed to be unnoticeable, and lines that hug the foot as if they were born with it. Like a glove.
Even the concept of luxury footwear is changing: no longer something to show off, but rather something to feel. For those seeking silent perfection. For those who recognise that you don’t need to shout to get noticed. It is for those seeking a balance between Eastern simplicity and Western excess. ‘Miurakami designs the sensation of walking in weightless comfort, with the certainty of belonging to something that goes beyond fashion.’
The “noble art” of boxing meets the craftsmanship excellence of Made in Italy in the collaboration between Acquasparta and Danger Promotion, to support Italian boxing and accompany the return of a world title to Milan by 2026. A synergy that unites two seemingly distant worlds, but linked by the same values: dedication, precision and passion. Values that have always guided Acquasparta in the creation of its footwear, the result of a rigorously artisanal process and entirely Made in Italy.
The big boxing event took place on 3 October at the Centro Pavesi in Milan, when Alessio Lorusso regained the international title by winning the IBO Continental title, the penultimate step before the world title. The same event also featured the highly anticipated match between Negroni and Aceto, won by the former by KO in the first round, claiming the WPBF Mediterranean title.
The Art Of Comfort is the philosophy behind the new Zebzag collections – Laceless and Rigger – which emphasises that comfort is not just a matter of softness and necessity, but a way of living every day with style and personality.
The first, laceless, is the Zebzag boot without laces. Inspired by the 1460 boot, which marked the history of Dr. Martens, with some design changes to create a very soft silhouette. As the name suggests, the Zebzag laceless boot is easy to wear while maintaining the aesthetics of a lace-up shoe. The boot is wrapped in soft Wyoming leather for a look that appears worn even when new. The rear loop with the brand’s logo in black and yellow seals the iconicity of Dr. Martens.
The Zebzag Rigger boot, on the other hand, has a slightly lower fit that reaches the ankle. Inspired by industrial silhouettes, it has been redesigned to adhere to an idea of even softer comfort to make you feel at home. Again, the fit is laceless, the boot has double tongues and is marked by stitching on the upper. The Rigger boot is available in soft black Wyoming leather or water-resistant milled nubuck.
Born from the vision of Shalf Group, a start-up founded by Franco Salvatelli, the brand promotes values of Positivity, Naturalness, Movement and Pure Evolution. These values are also embodied by the new BB0524 Balancing Shoes model, presented during Milan Fashion Week with a cocktail experience hosted by campaign ambassador Bruno Vanzan, who entertained guests with his flair and personalised drinks, as well as recounting his first-hand experience with the sneaker, the result of a collaboration between BBACK and his mixology academy.
The new BB0524 model pushes the boundaries of BBACK innovation even further by integrating aesthetic and technological features such as the Critical Balance® sole with high elasticity, the lightweight and durable Ripstop Fabric upper and the new Heel Shank. The design is minimalist but striking, with distinctive features that emphasise its identity, such as the scratch (“Grit”) on the sole, a visual icon of the brand, and the fluorescent green colour, the signature of ProDynamic® technology.
‘The arrival of the women’s collection allows us to further expand our offering in the sector, embodying the iconic style of Ambitious to the fullest,’ says Pedro Lopes, Brand Manager at Ambitious. ‘Beyond is our vision of a summer made of lightness, movement and character. We combine nostalgic references with contemporary technical solutions to create versatile models, designed for today’s everyday life without sacrificing elegance.’
The new Beyond collection consolidates the expansion of the women’s line with dedicated styling ranging from minimalist loafers to high-performance trainers, such as models featuring Michelin® soles, while preserving the brand’s signature style and design. Comfort is guaranteed by EVA components and technical details and finishes that ensure stability and flexibility over time, while carefully selected premium materials, certified leathers, high-performance fabrics and handcrafted finishes express Ambitious’ high quality standards.
There are just a few days to go until A+A 2025, the world’s largest and most important trade fair for safety and health at work, which will open in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Tuesday, November 4, and close on Friday, November 7. The scale of the event is impressive: this year’s biennial German trade fair promises to be the largest ever, with more than 2,200 exhibitors from 69 different countries and an exhibition area of about 87,000 square meters.
“The main focus of the fair will be innovation,” explain the organizers, “with products, solutions, and technologies aimed at promoting health, safety, and efficiency in the workplace.” The exhibition will feature everything needed to ensure worker protection and reduce fatigue, from the most common PPE such as helmets and gloves to futuristic exoskeletons to support the back. As always, the footwear sector will be very well represented (about 340 exhibitors) thanks to the participation of major international brands, which are taking advantage of this event to launch their latest products on the market. Italy has a strong presence in this sector, with 138 exhibitors spread over an area of 7,000 square meters at this edition. Alongside footwear manufacturers, mainly located in halls 9, 11, 13, and 14, will be the leading suppliers of materials, soles, components, and technology for the manufacture of safety shoes (halls 16 and 17).
From a logistical point of view, the German fair confirms the successful layout tested two years ago, which saw the segmentation of the offer divided into product groups in the thirteen pavilions used. Pavilion 7 will host the Trend Forum and the section dedicated to start-ups in the sector, young and dynamic companies with a strong focus on innovation, which will have the opportunity to present themselves to the market. Hall 15 will host four daily fashion shows that will shine the spotlight on innovation in PPE design and, more generally, on corporate workwear.
Among the side events at A+A, it is worth mentioning the International Congress, which, as always, takes place in parallel with the fair. Organized by Basi, the German Federal Association for Occupational Safety and Health, the congress promises a refreshed format to address the issues of digitalization and sustainability (the same key topics as the fair). These include prevention strategies such as “Vision Zero,” a global initiative aimed at reducing accidents at work. On this occasion, the results of applied research in occupational science are also presented and discussed.
A big party was held on September 26 for the inauguration of the GSC Group Innovation Center. Around 700 guests, including customers, institutions, media, partners, and collaborators, attended the official opening of a new, immense 6,500-square-meter space located in Zermeghedo (Vicenza), which aims to promote growth in the tanning sector. This forward-looking project combines innovation, technology, and tradition, enhancing the productive heart of the Veneto tanning district and beyond.
“This hub symbolizes a commitment that guides us every day: to fight for what we believe in and care about—leather and its future—with passion, innovation, and sustainability,” said GSC President Adriano Serafini.
Party guests had the opportunity to visit the impressive facilities of the Center, equipped with the most advanced machinery for every stage of leather processing, including a chemical and physical analysis department. “This center,” explained GSC executives, “is a synergistic hub designed to support the growth of the tanning industry, offering new opportunities for development and innovation. Here, customer needs meet the latest technologies and the expertise of our team, transforming market challenges into opportunities for shared growth.”
In this space, customers “will be able to receive personalized technical assistance, discover the latest technologies to optimize production processes, evaluate concrete solutions to improve efficiency, quality, and sustainability, and meet with our research and development experts to start new collaborations.”
The new center also features a large auditorium where training courses will be held and a showroom of over 500 square meters: an environment designed to inspire and fascinate, where materials and leathers are not simply displayed but enhanced as authentic expressions of art and innovation.
The inauguration of this facility clearly marks a milestone in the history of GSC Group, already a benchmark in the sector, which with this significant investment opens up new development prospects for the entire industry.
Below are VIDEOS of the inauguration and presentation of the Innovation Hub.
Images from the inauguration of the GSC Group Innovation Center on September 26, 2025Images from the inauguration of the GSC Group Innovation Center on September 26, 2025
A baroque vision of the future, a forward-looking decorative aesthetic. Luxury becomes multisensory, layered, and visionary. Baroque and opulent details blend with unexpected materials, creating a contrast between tradition and innovation. Hyper-glossy surfaces, iridescent brocades, and reinvented denim transform the idea of elegance, bringing it into a contemporary dimension. The materials enhance this balance between richness and experimentation.
Furalier
The soft chaos of timeless fur. No rules, just instinct. Furalier is an ode to fur and its multiple identities, which overlap and blend. Real, faux, printed, transformed into sheepskin, or evoked by unlikely textures. An animal language that escapes the concept of “lady fur” to become a visual and tactile patchwork that blends eras, sensibilities, and irony.
Indigo Avant-garde
Denim is transforming and embracing the future, transcending its traditional nature. From iconic fabric to cutting-edge material, it presents infinite facets: innovative weaves, laminated surfaces, couture finishes, and unexpected constructions. An evolution that makes it perfect not only for clothing, but also for shoes and bags.
Interwaves
Weaving as a code, layering as a language. The trend that transforms structure into decoration and chaos into visual harmony. Checks, checks, woven, printed, or hand-woven patterns blend seamlessly on synthetic fabrics and leathers, flat or three-dimensional, in a constant oscillation between tradition and experimentation.
For the past year, there has been a lot of talk in Europe about SCF (supercritical foam). I emphasise Europe because SCF has already been used in the Far East for several years. Inherited from the automotive industry, it is a manufacturing process that allows the production of expanded materials that retain their thermoplastic properties. To tell the truth, there is no single type of production process, but the common denominator of all processes that go under the name SCF is that the thermoplastic material in a fluid state is mixed at high temperatures (and pressures) with a gas in its ‘supercritical’ state, i.e. a particular physical state in which the gas resembles a fluid without actually being one. As the temperature and pressure decrease, the gas returns to its gaseous state, forming microbubbles that remain trapped inside the material. The big difference between SCF and EVA is that the ‘contained’ microbubbles do not require the ‘container’ material to cross-link (i.e. its molecular structure to form covalent bonds that make the material thermosetting) in order to remain trapped, and therefore the material remains, to all intents and purposes, a thermoplastic that can be returned to a fluid state by heating.
Co.Bo., an Italian company that has been manufacturing highly innovative soles for 40 years, will present Hypercell to the footwear industry, a technology that is definitely worth keeping an eye on because it has what it takes to compete with many of the materials currently used in both the performance footwear and luxury sneaker segments.
Compared to EVA, it achieves densities of less than 0.2 g/cm3 while maintaining the elastic rebound characteristics typical of polyurethane products and offers superior dimensional control in the moulding process compared to foams.
Compared to TPU, it offers the lightness typical of foams without compromising abrasion resistance.
Compared to PU with TPU film, both because the design can be much cleaner and because it easily exceeds 100,000 flex cycles.
And also compared to SCF, which has recently appeared in Europe, because it is completely free of the typical marbling streaks, also ensuring the possibility of homogeneous colours without compromise.
Enhanced Durability: +60% Engineered for resilience, Hypercell resists wear and tear, significantly extending the lifespan of high-performance footwear products.
Extremely Lightweight: -30% Hypercell reduces overall product weight by 30% compared to traditional injected EVA materials, enhancing performance and efficiency without compromising structural integrity.
High Energy Return: +70% Hypercell provides exceptional energy rebound, boosting responsiveness and performance while reducing wearer fatigue.
APPLICATIONS
Midsole Hypercell midsoles applications offer optimal comfort, energy return, and durability, making them ideal for high-performance sports footwear and technical running shoes. Engineered for athletic performance, it is suitable also for safety and lifestyle applications.
Single-mold The Single Mold application allows for a seamless, one-piece product construction, improving durability and reducing assembly time. Perfect for casual sneakers, lifestyle shoes, and slip-ons where lightweight comfort and streamlined design are essential.
Insert Designed to complement existing midsole structures, Hypercell midsole insert applications provide targeted comfort and energy rebound in specific areas. Ideal for technical footwear, including trail running and hiking/safety shoes, where additional support and responsiveness are needed.
Filler Hypercell midsole filler applications optimize material usage by filling voids within the sole structure, reducing weight without compromising strength. Commonly used in performance footwear and fashion sneakers to balance lightweight design with structural integrity.
