On Sports, a new Swiss company, has won the overall Ispo BrandNew award for its innovative running shoes. Their construction, with three-dimensional cushioning, enables the shoes to absorb vertical shocks as well as horizontal pressure waves.
Called CloudTec, this system was invented by a Swiss engineer, together with Olivier Bernhard, a Swiss tri-athlete, twice duathlon world champion and multiple Ironman winner.
On Sports, the Zurich-based firm that bought the technology, claims that runners using the shoe endure less pain and fatigue, due to a softer impact. Furthermore, like some other Swiss shoes, the system generates a feeling of slight instability that encourages otherwise inactive muscles to support the body, and it creates a forward momentum. A study by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research showed that CloudTec reduced the impact on muscles and joints by 25 to 30 percent.
This claim was supported by at least one member of the Ispo BrandNew jury: Tobias Gröber, business unit manager at Messe München in charge of Ispo and other shows, who took part in the New York City Marathon, said that he felt fresher than usual after his normal training when using the On Sports shoes. With a strikingly clean design, the shoe will be launched at Ispo and will become available to the wider public at the end of May, in one model and three colors, with a recommended retail price of €169.
In the meantime, the company has entered talks with several potential distributors or agents around Europe. Its target for the first year is to place its shoes in 20 specialist running stores in each of On Sports’ five selected export markets: Germany, Austria, the U.K., the Netherlands, and France or Spain. On Sports is already for sale on a small scale in about 15 Swiss stores, such as Tempo Sport in Zurich and Pais Sport in St. Gallen. Furthermore, it has become an approved supplier of Intersport in the country.
On Sports was established last year by Bernhard and two business partners: David Alleman, the former chief marketing officer of Vitra, a design-oriented furniture company; and Caspar Coppetti, a board member of Young & Rubicam in Switzerland.
The company made 2,000 test shoes, which enabled it to obtain feedback from runners and to start creating a web-based community of On Sports users, the On Movement. This might be broadened beyond runners, since the CloudTec technology also offers health benefits for people in their daily life, not unlike MBT shoes.
The On Sports shoes will be displayed at Ispo in Hall A3 along with all other winners of this 19th edition of the Ispo BrandNew Awards. For accessories, the winner is Moticon, the German company behind SkiGo, an electronic system that is meant to support ski instructors. It consists of a sensor integrated into the sole of ski boots, providing instructions to students through earphones and making sure their moves are permanently watched and evaluated.
Another German company, Monkee, won the BrandNew Award in the new Eco/Fair-trade category, established by Ispo’s management to show its commitment to anything green. The outdoor apparel brand works with a production system that is entirely based on natural resources, without toxic components, and recyclable. Furthermore, it is actively involved in animal protection and fair trade organizations.
Yet another German company, Hock, won the fitness category for the design of its free weights. The stylish barbells, toning weights, jump ropes and grips, all made in Germany, could be regarded as full-fledged design accessories.
A more offbeat product won the award in the hardware category, with a bicycle made of bamboo. The company behind it is Boo Bicycles, set up by an American technical engineer and racing cyclist, Nick Frey. The product is sustainable and elegant, and the manufacturers insist that it is also resistant.
The jury of the BrandNew awards was also impressed with the workmanship and the concept behind Uty winter sports apparel, designed specifically for physically challenged athletes. The functional aspects of the garments and their comfort and protection features secured an award in the sportswear category for the French company selling Uty.
Fresh and versatile designs clinched an award in the style category for ZKHT, short for Zuckerhut, a German company making streetwear for board sports enthusiasts. It distinguishes itself from the predictable hip-hop and graffiti designs with more inventive graphics and products, such as a reversible hooded scarf.
Finally, the urban style category award went to ID-Bike, a company from Stuttgart that launched Elmoto, an electro-moped with a speed and sporty design that are halfway between bicycles and motorbikes. It drives at up to 60 km per hour but without noise and emissions, and at very little cost.
