The outsole design for a shoe plays a major factor in shoe performances. The outsoles for running shoes, biker boots, and football cleats all have very different performance requirements and manufacturing methods. The shoe outsole is also one of the most expensive parts of the shoe. For low-cost shoes, the outsole can be 10% of the shoe cost, second only to the leather cost.

For high-end basketball, running, or soccer shoes the outsole can be 25% to 35% of the shoe’s factory price. A simple cupsole may cost $2.00, while a multi-part running sole with carbon shank could cost $8.00 to $10.00.

A set of outsole tooling is by far the most expensive equipment needed to produce a shoe. While the cutting dies required to produce a shoe upper may cost $1,000 for a complete size run, a single size of outsole tooling is a minimum of $1,400. Now, multiply that by 14 sizes, and you get $19,600! This is the cost for a simple rubber cupsole.

The cost for a complicated multi-part outsole with a rubber bottom, EVA midsole, and plastic shank plate may cost $100,000! Shoe companies must take great care in designing and developing new outsole tooling. Many shoe companies will only make one size for testing and sales samples. Only after their salesmen collect orders for the new model will the balance of the tooling be made.
I have seen designers and developers work for months to create a new design only to see production canceled before it even begins. When a weak sales report arrives, product managers have difficult choices to make.

Can you risk $100,000 in tooling for a model with just a hope that it will “catch on”? Small shoe companies may be forced to use old tooling on new models until they can afford the cost of new equipment.

Performance factors for Outsoles

Performance factors for footwear outsoles include traction, support, flexibility, weight, slip resistance, and durability. These features are a function of the design geometry and materials.

Outsole Traction
Traction is an important feature of any shoe outsole design. The design of the outsole pattern and selection of materials controls the amount
of traction. The traction requirements for hiking boots, office shoes, boat, and bowling shoes are all radically different.

When designing an outsole, it is important to understand the environment and surfaces the outsole will encounter. Traction is also directional. A mountaineering boot will require lateral traction on rough terrain, while a basketball sole needs to support quick stops on a smooth wood surface and allow spins with the foot planted.

Supportive Outsole
An outsole design must have some supportive features to ensure users can walk or run safely. Support can come from wider bases or added components such as molded plastic counters or rubber cut soles. A fast, lightweight running shoe designed for speed may have little support, while a mountaineering boot will have a metal shank to carry the weight of a heavy pack in rough terrain.

Outsole Flexibility
Depending on the intended purpose of the shoe, the midsole will require more or less flexibility. A tennis shoe or running shoe must be flexible, while a cowboy boot will have a steel shank to spread the load of the stirrups without bending at all. While more flexibility is usually a good thing, too much flexibility can cause instability and lead to foot fatigue. The general rule is, the heavier the load and the rougher the terrain, the stiffer the outsole.

Outsole Weight
Again, depending on the intended purpose of the shoe, the weight of the outsole may be a key feature. For a long-distance racing shoe or track spike, every gram is critical. For a driving shoe or biker boot, a heavy outsole is not a problem.

Outsole Durability
The durability requirements of an outsole design will depend on the environment and tasks selected for the particular shoe. The fine leather soles of women’s dress shoes and men’s office shoes are perfect for smooth stone hallways and carpeted offices, but would last only a few steps on a rainy construction site or mountain trail. Durability can be a selling feature for a shoe but may come at the expense of added weight or reduced flexibility.

Slip-resistant outsole design
Slip resistance is a key feature for service shoe outsole design. Restaurant, hospital, maintenance, and warehouse staff members are required to wear shoes with certified slip-resistant rubber compounds and tread patterns. Oil resistant rubber compounds may also be a requirement for industrial footwear.

How to make shoe sole

Rubber cupsole design

The rubber cupsole is the standard for inexpensive and durable footwear. This style is called a “cup” sole because it “cups” the upper of the shoe. The cupsole is very common outsole design and can be found in many styles of footwear. Hiking boots, casual shoes, army boots, skate shoes, court shoes, and sometimes a stylized cupsole can be found on inexpensive running shoes. A cupsole may have a “drop-in” midsole made of EVA blocks or an “egg crate” midsole molded inside the outsole. A cupsole is made by compression molding uncured rubber into a mold, much like making waffles. Cupsole tooling can cost from $1,500 to $2,500 per size.

Compression molded EVA outsole design

This running shoe outsole design uses a dual-density compression-molded EVA midsole with rubber inserts and a carbon fiber shank. This is an expensive outsole to make as it requires molds for the EVA, rubber, and shank parts. The EVA midsole is made by first bonding two EVA preforms with the molded shank in between. The final shape is made by compression molding. The compression-molded rubber parts are glued on in a separate operation.

Classic vulcanized outsole design

This outsole design shows the standard for vulcanized shoe construction. The grey rubber bottom is cemented to the upper, and then the rubber foxing tape wraps both. A toe cap and toe bumper are also added. Once the assembly operation is complete, the entire shoe is cooked at 110 ̊C for 70 minutes to cure the rubber; this makes the bonds permanent. This outsole requires a rubber compression mold for the bottom and a vulcanizing production factory to make the rubber parts.

Learn More about Outsole Design!

Chapter 12 of the Shoe Material Design guide details the 8 most common outsole types. Learn how to make shoe sole!
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What is the best shoe leather?

There are many different types of shoe leather. Entire books have been written on the subject of leather and how it’s made but we are just going to cover the basics you should know for sports and casual footwear design and manufacturing.
We are going to talk about real leather from animals!  The most common are cow and calf leather, followed by pig, goat, sheep, kangaroo (for soccer cleats – if you believe that) alligator, ostrich etc. etc.  We are going to focus on cow as it is by far the most common leather found in footwear and cow leather comes in many different styles, grades and prices.
Shoe leather starts as animal hide. During processing the hair is removed from the top or outer surface, and any remaining flesh and fat is removed from the inside of the hide. Following this operation, the hide is “tanned”  (or you could say “pickled”) to preserve the fibers. New oils, preservatives and coloring are added. There are many ways to tan shoe leather. Tanning a hide into shoe leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin making it stronger and resistant to decomposition. This can be a very wet and messy operation as the hides are tumbled in giant drums full of water, dyes and chemicals. This operation can take 10 or more hours. Tanning can be performed with either vegetable or mineral methods. We will not go into that here, but you should know you will have options. Other processes introduce fat to the leather to make it soft and pliable.
What is important to know is that the cow hide is thick and has two parts.  First comes the top surface or “grain” part of the leather. This is the outside skin of the animal. The grain is the most valuable part of the hide. The leather fibers are dense, tight, and firm. The grain surface is also smooth. Second, as the depth increases into the animal hide, the leather fibers are looser and softer. These layers are called the “split,” “split leather,” “suede,”  or “split suede.”  It’s called split because a huge metal blade is used to “split” off the top grain, leaving behind the suede surface.
Grain leather or full grain is the most expensive. There are many ways to process this type of leather depending on its quality. Full grain leather can be processed to flatten the natural grain, treated to raise the grain, or embossed to have a completely different grain pattern. The grain surface can also be waxed, oiled, sprayed, painted, dyed, and polished to create different looks.

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Common Types of Grain leather or Full Grain Leather:
Full Grain Aniline:  A leather which has kept its full grain, has a naturally textured full pored surface. The deep aniline coloring is achieved with dyes. It may or may not have a thin transparent finishing coat. This leather is of the highest quality and is the most expensive. Only flawless skins undergo such a treatment. Not well protected, these leathers darken well with age.

Full Grain Pigmented (also called Top Grain): This shoe leather has also retained intact its full grain but has received a penetrating dye: a colored opaque finishing which gives a unified appearance, hides small defects, and protects the leather. Only high quality raw-hides are used. This treatment makes leather pleasing to look at and to touch, and makes it resistant. It’s the best compromise between esthetics and resistance.
Corrected and Pigmented Grain:  To smooth out the leather surface and to hide its imperfections, wrinkles, scratches… the skin is slightly embossed and a tinted grain film is applied to its surface.  These leathers are not of the highest quality and they have a slightly artificial appearance. The surface coating however, is quite resistant to heavy wear. This type of shoe leather is often used in service style boots. The leather will be water proofed or even blood proofed depending on the requirements. You will find this leather used to make steel toe boots for soldiers, police, and medics.
Nubuck:  The velvety appearance of this leather is obtained by a light pouncing (or buffing) of the skin, thus highlighting the grain and the pores of the leather. To obtain a good looking nubuck, a quality skin is generally used. It’s a pleasant material, soft to the touch with velvety colors. However, nubuck is fragile and requires careful maintenance. A waterproofing treatment is mandatory. It remains a costly material. Nubuck and be oiled or post treated.  Thickness ranges from 1.8 to 2.2mm. Price ranges from $2.00 to 3.00 depending on color and quality.  Lighter colors require higher quality raw materials.

Crazy Horse:  To make this style of leather, a lower quality full grain hide may be brushed to remove just the top surface. The leather is then treated with a heavy, waxy, and oily compound that will darken the leather. This is the rough and rugged style of leather – you may see scratches, bug bites, scars and fat wrinkles in the surface but that’s okay, it’s crazy horse. This leather will show color changes when flexed.
Split or Suede:  The leather surface remaining after the top grain is removed. Suede is a very common shoe material. High quality short nap suede can almost have the appearance of nubuck leather.  Lower quality suede may be a hairy, cardboard like, dusty off-color mess.  Available in a rainbow of colors, quality suede is a stable material for casual, skate, and vulcanized shoes.  Available in thicknesses between 1.2mm  and 1.8mm.  The most common suede is 1.4 to 1.6mm. Prices range from $1.05 to $1.45 USD per foot.

Pressed Suede:  Starting with split leather the surface is treated with an oily plastic based resin. The leather hide is then pressed flat with an embossing plate. The surface will have a fine texture and may have a slightly glossy appearance. This is an inexpensive material, starting with lower quality hides. After some use the surface will crack and the suede fibers may show. This is not for fine shoes.

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Action or Coated Leather:  This leather product starts out as medium to low quality split leather. The surface may be pressed or rolled smooth. The hide is then laminated to a thin film of flexible stretchable PU or PVC. This synthetic surface is made by colored resin, white and black are the most common colors. The surface will be embossed which is done by pouring the plastic compound onto a sheet of textured paper. Once the fIlm and leather are bonded, the split has a very smooth full grain like surface. In fact, all the smooth white leather you see on sport shoes is this style of “action leather.”
This material is durable, the skin is waterproof, cuts clean and behaves just like full grain leather in shoe making operations. Action leather is less expensive than suede. Around $1.00 USD or a little less. This material is also easy for the factory to cut, there are typically very few scratches or scars showing that must be avoided. A very popular material for shoes, action leather is cheap, durable, looks good and comes in many colors and finishes. Action leather can look like full grain, nubuck and glossy patent leather. Finally, despite its plastic coating, action leather is still considered leather for duty classifications.
You can see there are a variety of leather types, prices, and features available. From fashion shoes made with white nubuck, to black blood-proof combat boots, leather is an amazing material for shoes.

14 Shoe Material lessons. Over 4 hours of video instruction. In-depth study of leather, textiles, synthetics, and plastics for footwear. Material Design Guide Textbook included.
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Do you want to know what’s inside the Nike Air Vapormax? So do we! Here at the Sneaker Factory workshop we love to see what’s inside the newest Nike shoes. Rather than murder our fresh pair of Nike VaporMax with a table saw, we took the time to carefully cut a sectional view so you can see inside. But before we get to the sneaker chop, let’s have a look at the outside.

The Nike Air VaporMax Shoe Specification

Before we cut into our Nike Air VaporMax we detailed the shoe material specifications:

Inside the Nike Air VaporMax

Yes! we are doing the sneaker chop on the Nike Air VaporMax.  Now we can truly see the minimalist design first hand.

RF welded toe bumper: .25mm clear TPU film
Toe reinforcement: .5mm fusible Surlyn plastic
Upper material: 420D polyester ripstop fabric, 2mm PU foam, tricot backing
Non-stretch weave Strobel sock: 100% polyester with 1mm EVA padding
Cold pressed PE footbed: 3mm double layer foam, Durometer Asker “C” 60˚
Sockliner cover: 100% polyester jersey knit
Blow molded TPU airbag: 1.30mm thick wall with molded outsole tread nitrogen filled air bladder
Tongue face: computer controlled 4D knit, polyester/spandex fiber combination
Blow molded TPU airbag: 1.30mm thick wall with molded outsole tread
Footbed logo: Red screen print, 35mm x 30mm
3mm injection molded nylon plate: clear, Durometer Shore “A” 75
Rubber pad: Durometer Shore “A” 65˚ Tread depth 3.5mm
Welded heel pocket: 1mm microfiber suede .5mm heat molded Surlyn plastic with 1mm EVA padding
RF welded toe bumper: .25mm clear TPU film
Computer controlled 4D knit one-piece upper: polyester/spandex fiber combination
Blow molded TPU airbag: 1.30mm thick wall with molded outsole tread
Rubber pads: durometer Shore “A” 65˚ Tread depth 3.5mm, web thickness 1.0mm
Shoelace: narrow, 6.5mm, 100% polyester
Lace cable system: .6mm Vectran™ fiber cord Lace eyelet opening: woven reinforcement
Tongue logo: woven label, laser cut, 2 colors, 20mm x 27mm welded
Tongue face: computer controlled 4D knit one-piece upper
RF welded toe bumper: 25mm clear TPU film
Blow molded TPU airbag: 1.30mm thick wall with molded outsole tread
Collar top line: computer controlled, 4D knit one-piece upper
Nitrogen filled air bladder rubber pad: Durometer Shore “A” 65˚Tread depth 3.5mm
Heel back strap: 100% polyester microfiber .45mm welded TPU film back strap with screen printed logo.

Do you want to see inside more Nike shoes?

Our book, the Shoe Material Design Guide, details all the shoe materials you will need to make modern athletic, classic casual, and high fashion footwear.
Each chapter covers a specific shoe material type. You will learn how each material is made, the options available, and how to specify the material correctly. We have chapters on shoe leather, textiles, synthetics, shoelaces, glue, reinforcements, hardware, logos, midsoles, outsoles, and more! We have included annotated cross sections of over 30 different shoe types.
You can see exactly how each material is used inside real production shoes. See inside basketball shoes, running shoes, track spikes, hiking boots, work boots, high heels, cowboy boots, and many more!

You will also find information on topics such as material testing, sustainable production, exotic materials, and more. Written as a companion to our best selling How Shoes Are Made, the Shoe Material Design Guide digs deeper into the world of footwear materials and design. Softcover, 330 color photos,  28 chapters, 195 pages.

Available as an instant download or softcover. Order from us here at ShoemakersAcademy.com or around the world on Amazon. Start reading today!

14 Shoe Material lessons. Over 4 hours of video instruction. In-depth study of leather, textiles, synthetics, and plastics for footwear. Material Design Guide Textbook included.
Course Details
enroll now $399