Santoni and Südwolle Group have collaborated on a new footwear concept featuring an upper in seamless wool fabric. The footwear combines Santoni's X Machine technology with Südwolle's wool blend yarns. The X Machine enables the knitting of countless intarsia items for the design of any kind of seamless uppers. It accomplishes this by mapping the different areas by the type of yarn and the combinations chosen. The shoe uppers can be designed with unlimited patterns and color combinations, including three-dimensional areas and eyelets for the laces. Südwolle Group, a manufacturer of yarns for circular knitting and hosiery, collaborated with Santoni in the development of the shoe prototype. The yarn used for the upper is crucially important, because the properties and structure of the fibers are what make it possible to enhance the footwear and heighten its performance. Südwolle selected wool-based blends, to offer the natural qualities of wool fibers for footwear designed for sports and activewear. Wool is anti-static and elastic and has a soft feel. As such, it ensures optimal heat insulation and absorbs body moisture, while transporting it away from the skin and outside the fabric. Shoe models featuring the new concept were first presented at Performance Days on Nov. 28-29, and will also be presented at upcoming trade fairs, including Pitti Immagine Filati in Florence (Jan. 23-25), Ispo Munich (Feb. 3-6) and Filo International Yarns Exhibition in Milan (Feb. 27-28).

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