Mammut Aegility Pro: Sustainable through innovation

The Aegility Pro is the highlight of the Footwear 2022 spring and summer collection at Mammut. "Our Footwear 2022 collection combines innovation and evolution, and our highlight product, the Aegility Pro, represents pure innovation in its construction," says Christoph Hühnerbein, Head of Product Management Footwear at Mammut. Design and development processes were reworked to create a shoe with a dynamic and modern look, consisting of just four different components. Despite fewer components, the Aegility Pro is technically sophisticated. "It is lightweight, flexible, very breathable, specifically designed for fast hiking, while also providing the necessary protection and support in challenging terrain," said Flavio Guarnier, Head of Business Unit Footwear.

During the development of the innovative shoe, the devil was in the detail and the biggest challenge of the team was to take a fresh approach. "We had to think in 3D when developing the Aegility Pro, away from old development and cutting patterns in 2D," says Product Development Manager Carlo Pozzobon, describing the novel process. There was a strong focus on craftsmanship to achieve lean processes in the supply chain. At the same time, the performance of the shoe was of course the focus while developing its novel construction. To understand the structure and benefits of the Aegility Pro as a hiking shoe, let's take a closer look at its four components.

The first and most important component to mention is the sole of the shoe. Here, the Mammut two-component rubber of the sole ensures the best grip in all conditions, from dry to wet, from rocky climbs to root paths. The laterally raised edge of the sole provides additional safety and stability, even if a fast step is not perfectly placed at times. Even in scree fields, the raised rubber sole of the Aegility Pro provides additional stability and protection for the foot. 

The second component of the shoe is a rugged, ribbed 360-degree TPU construction that wraps around the foot. The shoe's quick lacing system allows this minimalist framework to flexibly adjust to the wearer's foot and provide good support during hiking, especially at the instep and around the midfoot. In the Achilles tendon area, the 360° TPU Cage provides support around the heel and prevents friction and blisters. In the front, the foot is also protected thanks to the toe cap.

The Aegility Pro also has a special midsole construction, which additionally improves the comfort and performance of the shoe. Here, Mammut has been tinkering primarily to make the contact between the foot and the ground more direct, despite providing sufficient cushioning at the same time.

Christoph Hühnerbein, Head of Product Management Footwear, explains the background to the activities that played a role in the development of the shoe: "With the Aegility Pro, we always had the goal of developing a shoe for fast hiking. We have oriented ourselves for this primarily on the requirements that the shoe must meet when scrambling. There, above all, you need very good feeling in the forefoot."

The new design of the Mammut shoe highlight in spring and summer 2022 makes exactly that possible: in the forefoot area, the midsole of the Aegility Pro was designed to be particularly thin in order to reduce the distance between the foot and the ground and make the shoe more direct. 

"At the same time, however, you need very good cushioning on the descent," Christoph Hühnerbein continues. In the heel area, they therefore simultaneously relied on more cushioning for pleasant comfort when quickly stepping downhill. "In summary, the shoe is intended for the very sporty hiker."

The fourth component of the shoe is a knitted 360-degree sock, which encloses the foot and flexibly adapts to different foot shapes. This sock construction also allows for easy entry of the shoe when things need to move quickly. Despite the snug fit, the knitted material is breathable.

The Aegility Pro is available as a waterproof version for both men and women. This is ensured by an integrated membrane with Mammut DRYtechnology®, which reliably protects against rain or snow from the outside. Sweat from the inside is absorbed by the membrane thanks to its hydrophilic properties and then released to the outside as moisture. Likewise, the shoe is available in an even more breathable version without a membrane.

It is not only through its construction of only four components that the Aegility Pro as a shoe contributes to a more environmentally friendly product. In the manufacturing of the shoe, the processes were heavily tweaked to keep the CO2 footprint as low as possible. 

The result? There were 60 percent fewer processes in manufacturing, for example in transport, logistics, and processing. In components, at 73 percent, there was even a reduction of just under three-quarters compared to other Mammut shoes in the same category. "These savings are made possible above all by the new construction of the shoe. Likewise, we have very specifically addressed issues such as the avoidance of waste or precision craftsmanship, for example, in the processing of the seams," explains Carlo Pozzobon.

The membrane as well as the woven upper of the shoe were also made from recycled PE material. Using recycled material as extensively as possible is part of the general, sustainable quality standards that Mammut sets for its products. Mammut was the first outdoor brand to join the Fairwear Foundation and aims to systematically improve conditions in its supply chains, not only in terms of sustainability but also concerning working conditions. In 2020, the brand received the "Leader" award for the 5th time for this.