Cork

Cork is an incredibly versatile and natural material, being increasingly used over the past years. In particular, it has been used as a cork filler for shoes due to its hard-wearing and thermal properties. Indeed, Some of the most successful shoemakers in London have adopted this method of construction.

Resistance of odour in shoes:

Cork is an odour resistant material. The use of cork in shoes enables the moisture that builds up to reduce in amount, in comparison to the amount of moisture that is easily accumulated in other materials.

Fitting:

Cork is a material densely compressed for shoe use. However, when it is provoked through weight and the accumulation of heat, cork can very easily mold itself in accordance to the wearer’s foot alignment. This as a result offers great comfort for the wearer as the cork merges itself into the wearer’s natural shape. Though cork has the ability to conform to a particular shape through its versatile structure, it remains to be incredibly firm in comparison to plastic or synthetic insoles, ensuring correct arch support and alignment of the feet.

Resistance of high impact in shoes:

To an extent, cork offers a sense of relief for those who are on their feet for the majority of the day. The flexibility and elasticity enables less impact to be transported to the shins and knees, allowing a decrease in joint pain. The cork’s ability to hold the foot in a correct position, along with its shock absorbent ability, prevents instances of foot pain, most commonly, plantar fasciitis which causes pain under the heel. Due to this reason, cork has now become an increasingly used material in reducing foot pain.

Being 100% natural, cork has individual properties which technology cannot imitate. It is light, insulating, flexible, waterproof and compressible, and is resistant to extreme temperature and abrasion.

  by Wendy Gallagher