Core77
Bulk and inconvenience instantly come to mind when thinking of protective athletic gear—especially when it comes to positions that require more than shin guards, like goalies. This frustration was the foundation of Storelli, a Brooklyn-based athletic company co-founded by a group of four soccer players understandably fed-up with injury due to lack of protection.
Instead of designing protective gear and apparel separately, Storelli takes a more internal approach by designing athletic apparel with built-in protection they call BodyShield. You'd think this would make for a game of Michelin men kicking a ball around, but the padding the team has developed is extraordinarily thin while remaining as protective and injury-resistant as possible—kind of like a superhero's suit.
Storelli SpeedGripsAfter developing BodyShield, Storelli decided to take their deep understanding of performance gear and translate it to footwear through the development of SpeedGrips, the company's take on insoles. Traditional insoles may help with minor sizing issues, but when it comes to high-impact sports, slipping is still a major problem.
While the SpeedGrip's heel tab is the most obvious design addition, what makes the insoles special lies mainly within their adhesive-like material.
The insane difference between regular insoles and SpeedGripsThe photos and videos were pretty unbelievable, so I payed a visit to Storelli's office to see check them out myself. As a former basketball player still suffering from ankle injuries, I know a thing or two about the role grip plays in performance. I was admittedly a SpeedGrip skeptic.
Tom Marchesi at work on the SpeedGripsTo my surprise, the SpeedGrip hype is real. Tom Marchesi, Storelli's Head of Design walked me through the final product, as well as the prototypes and materials they tested during their design process.
Enter a caption (optional)This is what won me over about the insoles (without taking into consideration the awesome personalities at the Storelli HQ):
1) When running a dry sock over a SpeedGrip insole, the sock was so stuck to the SpeedGrip that my tight grip on the sock was too weak and released almost instantly. When running the sock over a regular insole, there was little to no traction.
2) I was initially concerned that the SpeedGrips would be uncomfortable due to their adhesive nature, but they're soft to the touch and as forgiving as regular insoles.
3) I tested out a pair while running at home, and was very pleased with their performance. Cutting them down to the right size was slightly time consuming, but once that was taken care of, the fit couldn't have been better.
4) I haven't tested them in the rain yet, but I did rub a wet sock (not my sweat, that's gross) on them, and the grip was barely affected, as promised. This is extremely important because traditional insoles get soggy and lose their grip when exposed to liquids.
SpeedGrip heel tab
Enter a caption (optional)5) The heel tab truly does provide extra support. My feet consistently have a vertical slipping problem, which went away thanks to this design addition. As long as you don't mind the tab visibly sticking out of your shoe, the heel tab is excellent. If the heel tab isn't your jam, you are able to remove it.
6) The material is given an anti-microbial treatment, so your shoes won't smell nasty after use.
Tom Marchesi proudly holding up adidas shoes with SpeedGrip insoles.Clearly the Storelli team is just getting started. When asked what's next, I was pleased to hear the team hopes to expand their women's line by designing protective sports bras, which is no easy task. If you're a dude and don't understand why this is important, ask any woman in your life, and they will all say the same thing. Stay tuned, Storelli is a company to watch.
Storelli introduced SpeedGrips through a very successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. The team is pleased to announce the actual release of their product online today. You can now purchase SpeedGrip insoles for $39.99 here.
Emily is the Content Marketing Manager of Autodesk Fusion 360 where she focuses on shaping the overall Fusion 360 content strategy, including the Fusion 360 blog and social media directions. Prior to Autodesk, Emily was the DMTV Content Coordinator at Design Milk, the Business Editor at HYPEBEAST and an Editor at Core77. During her time at Core77, she also served as co-chair of the 2018 & 2019 Core77 Conferences.
Webinar
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Storelli's Internal Approach to Protective Athletic Apparel & the Release of their Performance-Enhancing Insoles
If you have a good-fitting shoe, how much slip is there? Do they have any data on the amount of slip of a normal insole? What evidence do they offer that their zero slip is better than the slip of a normal insole?
Socks are required to slip on insoles when putting on or taking off the shoe. How was this affected? I would think if the traction was too high, you would remove the insole every time you removed your foot from the shoe.
Great question and something I forgot to mention in the article. There was some traction when putting in and removing my foot. Since I spent extra time cutting the insoles down to fit snugly, the attachment to the shoe balanced out with the sock traction for the most part. Pushing the heel tab down also aided in taking the shoe on and off. In this case it's kind of a "what's more important" scenario—ease and comfort of putting foot in and out of shoe with insole or comfort and performance while wearing the shoe with insole. There's no real answer, all depends on the athlete.