A hiking boot that went on to become a true outdoor icon. But its journey to the top was far from easy. When the idea for the footwear was first proposed, it drew nothing but snickers. It was dismissed out of hand as “unsalable”.
To understand why, you have to travel back in time to those days.
It was 1997 – the year in which Tony Blair became British prime minister, the movie “Titanic” was playing in cinemas and the world was mourning the death of Lady Diana.
It was also a time when people were tromping through the mountains with sturdy mountaineering boots on their feet, shoes that were made with the double-stitched or cemented method. But there was simply no type of shoes that were designed for short excursions and one-day tours, shoes that were stable, but not nearly so heavy.
“But it was impossible to reduce the shoe’s weight while using the cemented construction method.”
— Werner Riethmann | LOWA CEO
LOWA Managing Director Werner Riethmann understood the problem and began to toy around with an idea along with his development team. Why not simply inject the sole directly onto the shoe instead of cementing it on? It was a technology that was already being used to make leisure-time shoes. But would the technique work with hiking boots?
LOWA’s development team gave it a try – and it worked. The result of their labours was the RENEGADE, a revolutionary hiking boot that went on sale in 1997.
The shoe served as the charter member of an entire category: the All Terrain Collection, or simply ATC.
The category and the shoe were something unheard of and absolutely nonconformist at the time. The visual language and marketing used to sell the shoes had to be completely new as well.
This appeal in the catalogue captures the spirit that led to the development of the ATC category. Outdoor activities should no longer be limited to long, carefully planned tours in the mountains. Outdoor activities should actually start right outside your front door – with small adventures and excursions.
The RENEGADE essentially laid the foundation for an entire outdoor-boot category. Today, multifunctional footwear is a powerful force in the shoe industry and makes up the largest share of LOWA’s product line.
The benefits are obvious: Multifunctional footwear can be used in all sorts of different ways and for countless types of activities. Things like spectacular one-day hikes in the Alpine foothills or simply a walk in the woods with the dog – these lightweight jacks-of-all-trades provide wearers with the very highest level of comfort, no matter what people do while wearing them. These shoes are defined in particular by one special quality: their lightness.
LOWA also came up with a special sole design that ensures that the RENEGADE retains its stability in spite of its directly injected sole: the LOWA MONOWRAP®.
This feature uses an elevated frame to connect the sole with the upper and lends stability to the shoe with its skeleton-like arrangement. As a result, the foot is firmly embedded in the sole. The special design provides optimal support and amazing comfort in the process.
LOWA continues to refine the LOWA MONOWRAP®. LOWA developers constantly and meticulously fine-tune a wide range of areas on the shoe, including ways to reduce the number of seams used in the footwear. The RENEGADE is continuously optimised and improved in this process – without sacrificing any comfort or any of its good looks.