The Timberland Company has been awarded a 2007 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for the new GoLite® footwear line that recently launched in March 2007. The IDEA program, co-sponsored by The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek magazine, fosters business and public understanding of the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. The IDEA jury chose 20 entries to receive the Gold award, 19 entries for the Silver award and 42 for the Bronze award from the overall 1,691 entries. Among all entries, 595 came from 29 countries other than the United States.
“After an extensive review and analysis of the unique requirements of a trail runner, as well as the physiology of mountain dwelling animals and specialized suspension systems of off road vehicles, we came to the conclusion that conventional running shoes are literally constructed upside down, counter to a trail runners needs, promoting instability with the soft part of the shoe located directly under a runners foot and a hard sole against the ground. We believe that to improve stability while running on a trail, the soft part of the shoe should be directly against the ground, absorbing the unevenness of the trail and stabilizing the foot,” says Doug Clark, VP of Timberlands Invention Factory.
