All language subtitles for Draft 5 Footwear

Hi everyone and warm welcome to the footwear session for spring summer 25.

Footwear has been there in the craft family for quite some while now and it's a reason for that.

This category in the US only is worth over 4.6 billion US dollars on an annual basis.

That equals down to over 42 million pairs sold in the US only in this category.

And if you look at a few numbers from outside the US, this is a number from a Swedish retailer.

I won't mention the name but a generalist, the biggest generalist in Sweden.

72% of their sale within the running category is actually shoes and that's performance shoes.

That removes all the sneakers, that removes all other types of shoes.

These are pure running performance shoes.

So there is a lot of money up for grab here.

And maybe even more interesting, within that category, both in the US but also in Sweden and some other countries now, women are extremely high up their trending in terms of sales.

In the US, the top free sold products value wise annually in 2023, the last year, were women specific styles.

And there's been a massive movement in this category, just looking back in the rear mirror a bit.

This was from the Olympics in London in 2012 when a few of the really major brands were dominating the market.

They were named Nike, Adidas, Puma, yeah, Asics and a few others.

But there weren't any more.

Looking at the marketplace today, there are tons of brands out there.

And why is that?

Yeah, first of all, the consumer want to try more brands.

There are more brands in this game.

But also retailers are not willing to take the risk to just work with a few brands.

So there is an open spot and an interesting spot from the retailers and from distribution side to work with other brands, just in the big players.

Adding to that, the big players also starting to streamline their distribution, driving sales to their own channels, leaving retailers behind, which actually leaves up a massive hole in the market.

You could then ask yourself, like, how are we different in this marketplace?

Why should you buy Craft?

Why and in what way are we unique?

Yeah, first of all, Craft is the Swedish endurance brand.

And that position is unique because all of the other brands that I showed you there cannot claim that.

But that's not enough.

Part of it is brand for sure.

But you need to go down deep into product and deep into segments to really be unique.

And we find our way within the road to trail category.

We've talked about this before and without actually even knowing it, we've been in this category from the very start of the launch of the Ultra Carbon in '21.

What we feel now is that the road to trail segment is our way in and our way to create buzz in this marketplace.

You could compare it to a few other businesses.

The automotive industry with Volvo Cross Country, Sirius, the Subaru Outback, but also the bike industry and the cycling industry that has been moving tons of their energy and efforts into the gravel industry.

And that's been working very, very well.

And you've seen this before.

Niklas and I talked about it in the marketing and branding session.

Our target group of the Achiever really matches that unique position.

So coming down to our point of difference, Craft will make, and our promise to our users is that we should make the best road to trail shoes in the world that matches the goals and the ambitions of the Achiever.

The good thing, I mentioned it before with the Ultra Carbon, is that we're already there.

This year, just a few days ago, we were launching the Xplor and it's flying out and it's really created a buzz in the marketplace.

Last year, we launched a new Ultra Series together with the Pure Trail Series and together with some other styles that really, really sets down this position as unique for Craft.

And people actually start to talk about us as a gravel brand or a road to trail brand.

And I think there is something really, really unique in that and we see that creates a lot of interest.

And again, this cannot the others claim.

This is unique for Craft and this is something that we will highlight and push forward even more in the future.

So I hand it over to Eric and Thommy to run you through the collection a bit more in detail and enjoy.

So welcome to the merchandise section and we will guide you through the collection style by style and segment by segment.

Alright, let's do it.

So we start with Road to Trail, which is the category, the hybrid category that we've been leading, taking leadership and we have been very successful with.

Yeah, it's really about versatility and the end use and the evolution of the modern runner perfectly fits the expression of the Craft brand.

We just see people moving towards wanting to have different environments to run in and our category is all about meeting that need.

And of course, the gravel segment is quite new as a segment on its own, but we've been working with it for quite a long time because we have also taken inspiration from what we've been doing with bike, the bike category, where gravel is a very strong growing segment for bike riding and also for the apparel and the bikes.

Absolutely.

You know, we can take a look at a few, a little bit of data in the market to support this and first of all, the motivation for runners at an all time high and running is really the most popular sport out there and it's growing.

But on top of that, we really see the off-road activities expanding, don't we?

We do and the outdoor trend has been expanding all along since the pandemic and it's still growing and that's different activities in the outdoors, everything from really hardcore running to just like walking, hiking.

Yeah, it really validates the craft footwear position in the road to trail category in general.

So let's dive in and talk about the first shoe.

Yeah, last year's favorite shoe was for sure the NordLight Ultra where we had great success, but also we were hailed by our elite athletes, but also by customers as being the best shoe we ever had done so far.

It's really a breakthrough and it, you know, in this category, it's so important because it's a leadership category, but it's a shoe that just has a wonderful ride underneath it.

And I think that's the thing that's really cut through to people and, you know, the versatility of the road to trail out so they'll get you on pavement or get you in the dirt.

But that supercritical foam ride with the CR foam is something that's really struck a chord with consumers.

Yeah, for sure.

So the elite team, they were onto the Nordlite Ultra straight on. We got feedback immediately that this was the best shoe in our range that they've ever been using before.

And this is or turned out to be the first choice for most of our athletes during last year.

Yeah, not only for races like the UTMB, but for training also, you know, and I'll even go one step farther back.

They really had a lot to do with the building of the shoe and it was their input that really really helped us construct this in the right way to meet their needs.

And, you know, and so with that, that gives us a great transition to something exciting that's happening for spring 25.

Yeah, taking knowledge from what we developed for the Nordlite Ultra, we have now improved it even further and created the Nordlite Ultra 2.

That's exactly right. So this is a shoe that carries on that tradition of being designed for both the everyday athletes and also our elite athletes.

And we're really taking advantage of the responsive performance of that platform and evolved it and made some serious upgrades to this shoe.

So it's better than ever. And I'm really, really excited about this.

I think this is one of my favorite shoes in the range. And this new iteration is something that's really special.

So, yeah, what we started with is the upper, the improvements of the upper and both optically but also technically.

Yep. The main thing is about the durability and, you know, going with a new upper material.

It's a woven, it's open and breathable, but it's really strong at the same time.

You get that flexibility, but you feel protected in the shoe.

So it's really taken another step in terms of that part.

Also went inside of the shoe and enhanced the internal construction along with the external construction.

So we've got a mix of engineered synthetics and no-sew TPU elements.

And it just brings a greater level of support and stability to the shoe overall.

And it's also the fitting feels even more stable and snug to the foot.

That's exactly right. We've built on the great lock-in that we have in the shoe.

And there still is the freedom to the feeling of these shoes overall.

However, here we've got a little bit more of a stable lock-in across the board and a better fit.

And then we could talk about the bottom unit.

You know, I touched on it before.

You know, the secret sauce in here is our CR foam.

This is a nitrogen infused supercritical foam.

And, you know, for those of those people out there that don't know what supercritical foam is, it's a way of singly infusing nitrogen into the foaming process to put micron-sized bubbles through it.

Basically what we're talking about is something that's got exceptional deceleration and stability, long-lasting, and it's just snappy under the foot.

But it's also a good technology for not having waste with the material.

So it's good in different senses as well.

That's absolutely true. Completely recyclable in terms of the materials, and that single process uses less resource.

And then, of course, the ultra versatile road to trail outsole, you know, makes this one of the best rides.

Definitely in our collection, but I think one of the best rides in the market overall.

So, sum up of what we've done.

Yeah, the Ultra Trail 2. Sorry. The Nordlite Ultra 2.

I got ahead of myself a little bit. Really, we've taken full advantage of that supercritical platform.

It's a highly versatile shoe overall, and we've really made some serious improvements to the upper.

I really believe this might be the best shoe in the range and one of the best out there in the market.

Yeah, on top of that, we have improved the recommended retail price as well.

We brought it to a more commercial price. That's absolutely correct.

So, let's move on to the next shoe.

Yeah, and move back to where it all started with our friend and colleague, Tommy Rivs.

Yeah, we go back to 2020, and when we really started to make a shift in footwear and in this new direction of getting into road to trail, the end result after all of these sessions with Tommy and the building of the partnership was the Ultra Carbon.

We got such valuable insight from him about what it's like to prepare for long races and really getting in the mind of a runner.

That beginning of the partnership is really valuable.

Here we are going back to that same model, that same tooling that was open and refreshing it and bringing it back.

And we're not only bringing it back, we're bringing it forward because we made some serious improvements that maybe have been with the knowledge that we have today, wouldn't have been up to date today.

Mainly that will be the middle.

That's right. So, for spring 25, the fourth version of the Ultra platform, the Ultra 4, we've looked at our UD foam, which although very stable, we felt like it was missing a little bit of softness and responsiveness.

So, we've really worked on the chemical compound and improved that UD foam softer underfoot than it's ever been.

That same durability that people like where you get that long lasting performance out of it.

But also, we've been able to improve on the price as well.

So, we have more commercial recommended retail price for this shoe as well.

It's getting to be a habit, we're just making better shoes and making them cheaper at the same time.

That's 160 as a recommended retail on the Ultra 4.

We can also talk about the upper a little bit.

One of the calling cards for this shoe is the single layer engineered mesh.

It really feels like a sock, it's breathable.

We've improved a lot of the support and the internal detailing so you get a much more snug fit and more stable.

But it's got that feel that has been synonymous with the Ultra all the way along.

So, summing up, it's a matter of softening the midsole and then improving the price.

That's right. So, there's a ton of things to love about this Ultra 4.

You've got that softer ride and this long list of upgrades.

So, I think we could say that it's definitely continued success, maybe even a resurgence of the Ultra platform here.

So, for the start of 24 there's one product that made it clearly and stood out from the crowd.

That's right. And as excited as I am about some of the shoes that we just talked about, this next shoe, the Xplor Hybrid, is something that's really taken the market and our own partners by storm really.

So, can you walk us through of why this shoe is such a success?

Yeah, really the unique point of view starts at the bottom.

And first and foremost, the outsole was designed and engineered with Vittoria.

You know, Vittoria is really a reference for bicycle tires, specifically gravel tires, which is the biggest inspiration for this shoe.

And we worked very closely with their design and engineering team to build what is one of the most amazing and versatile outsole in the running category, top to bottom.

And, you know, we got to look through their catalog of bicycle tires and we picked a nested hexagon pattern that goes to the middle of the shoe and some deeper lugs that go to the outside.

In short, without getting too technical about it, it's going to really take care of wet and dry traction on roads.

You're going to go off-road and you're going to dig in. I mean, this thing sticks to anything.

And then I'll just add to that, we've got a new formulation of our PX foam in there, which is ultra soft.

And it sits into this almost cup-like sole, so it's very stable, very soft, and exceptional traction.

Well, we've got some exceptional reviews on this one as well from various magazines and online testers.

Yeah, I've got a quote here from Believe in the Run.

We're really in tune with the idea that Craft frickin' nailed it underfoot.

The PX foam and Vittoria outsole will go down in history as a glorious combination that makes running comfortable and fun.

Pretty cool, huh?

That's pretty cool.

You know, and it's not just the media. We're also, you know, the shoe has just dropped and we're seeing some traction, no pun intended, or maybe pun intended.

We're seeing some traction in the sales also.

We are. The shoe was launched slightly earlier in the US than in Europe, and it has sold during March.

And it's doubled the amount of the next shoe of anything, so it's really hit the market very good.

Yeah, it's absolutely flying, and these are the kind of signs along with how the PR is covering the shoe that make us really excited about what we have on our hands with the Xplor.

Yeah.

You know, in summary, the Xplor is, it just has a ride that's pure pleasure underfoot, and that grip makes you very confident to take on anything in your path.

And that combination of it being just bouncy and fun and technical at the same time just seemed to have hit a sweet spot.

Yeah, but also it has a very commercial price level as well.

Yep, those things all together make it one of the most powerful shoes in the range.

Yeah.

So summing up the road to trail segments.

Yeah, we can take a look at the full range of colors here.

I think the most important thing about the merchandising for this category is that it's designed to cross merchandise.

It is the most important category to sell in, and so we've taken a really fresh range of colors and made sure that you can pair it with the road category or with the trail category in terms of merchandising.

You know, so that means you can go out to any account that's out there, which you should be with this category.

Yeah, you can see here on the pictures, the Nordlite Ultra 2 is fantastic in the appearance and the design of colors.

Really happy with the color collection in this category overall. That is road to trail for spring summer 25.

Yep.

All right, let me introduce you to the road segment of the spring summer 25 footwear collection.

As you all know, road to trail is really our position within the footwear category, but with that said, we cannot ignore moving into the road segment full scale.

This is by far the biggest where the biggest money is, and this is by far where the most runners find their shoe on a daily basis.

Just some very interesting insights before we look at some of the most exciting products that we will show you today.

One thing that we see a massive trend in now is that brands and people continue to invest in the long runs and especially the marathon distances again.

Marathon has been and are usually popular, but it has had a bit of a setback through the pandemics and coming back to racing and so on.

Now we see a massive trend in that moving in the other direction and races are selling out faster than ever, the more popular than ever again.

That leaves that other brands are trying to tap into this as well.

We saw Volvo as an example, activating at New York City Marathon.

Adidas launched their most expensive shoe ever.

There are other brands within this field that want a piece of the cake.

And just by looking at some of the studies that's been done in the US, this is some of them how, what type of racing and what type of distances in the races are the most popular ones to go.

And actually over 50% of the people were asked said that half marathon the marathons were their favorite distances.

So our target group within the road category are core marathon runners.

If we could reach the marathon runners, we will create the same trust and the same credibility that we have in the trail and the road to trail categories.

So how do we do that?

How do we get these marathon runners to actually love us and to interact with us and then choose us over something else?

Well, one of the biggest trends out there that you can't ignore if you want to be in this category and play ball, you need to be at the very highest end of innovation level.

And that in the marathon field is called and spelled super shoes.

The shoes shoes that entry the market a few years back now is booming.

And why is that?

Well, it simply works.

It simply makes you faster and it simply gives you a better ride running those long longer distances.

So I'm extremely happy and proud to hand over to Eric and Tommy to maybe introduce you one of the most innovative, most exciting products launch that we ever made from Craft.

So I can tell me take it away.

All right.

This is so exciting to talk about the road categories.

We've got such a cool product to lead off with.

We're going to get the details with this product is called the Kype Pro.

No, you got it all wrong.

You're American.

This is Kype Pro. Kype.

Yeah.

And it has a backstory actually, because when our founder, Mr. Bengtsson, was testing base layers in the early 70s, he was running around a small lake here up north of Borås.

He was running around that for testing and weighing the amount of sweat that was stored in the base layers.

So this lake is called Kype.

Hence the name of this one.

Kype Pro. Kype.

I like that better.

Let's let's dig into it.

All right.

I mean, let's start with a brief in general.

You know, this is one of the most challenging briefs that you could you come up with.

And that was to make the fastest shoe in the world.

And there's some pretty fast shoes out there.

So starting with that kind of ambition is pretty special and pretty daunting at the same time.

So, you know, when you start with that kind of brief, we realized right away that we weren't going to be able to bring all the innovation necessary.

So we needed to get the band together and bring some of the best players in the market together with us to support.

So here we have them.

That's right.

The three partners to focus on will be Arris, Pebax and Vittoria.

And we'll dive into that in detail.

But these companies are all at the apex of innovation.

And they all played a really important part in bringing this shoe to life.

You know, the innovation part is just one thing.

I mean, those companies bring innovation to us.

It's one thing.

But then building something that's the fastest in the world is another.

And so we had to ask ourselves a lot of questions, you know, ask the question about what does it really take to make something that's fast?

The first inclination is brute force power.

And while that works for 100 meter dash or for drag racing, it's not the best thing for distance running.

And so we did some extensive studies and things outside of footwear and learned that efficiency is the most important ingredient in this recipe.

If you take a look at the catamaran, for example, which is one of the fastest split hull designs in the world, it focuses on efficiency in order to not just make speed, but make speed over time and doing with less energy.

We also looked really deeply at independent suspension and how that works in being able to collect power, store it, and then release it.

And those are just a couple of examples of things that we really did a deep dive on to get us started.

You know, and to just walk you through it, I'm walking you through like you don't know, you've been along for the whole ride.

But for the rest of you out there, we start conceptualizing and sketching some of our ideas.

And one of the first things that we do is say, what rules can we bend?

What rules can we break?

We know that we have to make something that's incredibly efficient for it to be fast.

And so we go through that process of sketching.

And then we go to our many partners out there.

We've got a pretty big crew for this shoe because it was such an important one.

And we take those sketches, turn them into designs.

We make prototypes.

We get them to our labs in Santa Barbara to test and repeat.

And then we do the same thing over and over again and repeat again.

And I think for this particular shoe, we had about 12 different variations of the shoe along the way with different foams, different plates, different constructions.

And we were able to get really detailed information on what works and what doesn't.

And that's a really fun part of the process.

But we mentioned it's daunting.

It's a process that's taken us how long?

Ooh, six months, nine months.

I think the whole process is about two years end to end, believe it or not.

That's the whole process.

But just the test process has taken us a long time by repeatedly testing and coming back with new iterations of the shoe.

That's it.

Well, all that said, that's a little bit of a buildup and we're happy to introduce the Kype Pro for the spring 25 season.

There's so many elements to talk about, but in general, we have one of the lightest and possibly the fastest shoe in the world.

Along with it being lightweight, it's got several innovations that you will not find in other shoes.

And you can just feel it when you put it on your foot.

It is fast and it feels fast and it looks fast.

Every part of this was designed and constructed and engineered in a way to set it apart and also to utilize what we've learned in the marketplace about what will make it fast.

And we're going to go through several of the details.

But I think we should start with talking about two main points.

So the image on the left is showing the rocker profile.

What about that rocker profile?

Well, the rocker profile is a technology that is widely used today, but that will help you to expand the force forward, of course.

Yep.

And it's pretty specific what that profile looks like.

So there isn't really any point of difference in that.

It's almost like it must be with a particular kind of profile to get that forward movement.

But it's moved backwards.

It has moved back since the initial versions of these shoes, that's for sure.

So we followed along with that and made sure that we've optimized it.

But the second point that's really important is we've gone with a very unique split heel design.

And there is nothing like this in the marketplace.

But you might find some shoes that visually have a reference.

Nothing has cut away the entire midsole all the way to the carbon fiber plate like we have.

And that will be the difference because this is not just visually.

This is functionally.

It is functional.

And what it's allowed us to do is go with a slightly firmer foam.

Although we want a soft feel, that firmer foam is what gets us the rebound at the rocker point.

The shoe splits and it feels soft when you're landing at heel strike or at midfoot strike.

And this design really allows this to optimally function no matter if you are heel striking, midfoot striking, or toe striking.

And during the course of a marathon, as you know, runners have to conserve efficiency by using each one of those strikes to be faster.

So let's take a look at the carbon fiber plate because this is a rule that we had to bend.

And in order to bend it or break it, we had to work with errors to make a carbon fiber plate that is split in the heel and gives us stability so that you can land in that heel zone, collect energy, and then efficiently throw it through the shoe so that at that rocker profile you're getting that explosive toe off.

But first maybe we talk a little bit about Arris.

I mean, what is errors? Does everybody know about Arris?

Well, if they don't, let's tell them.

So, Arris is an innovation company that focuses on composites.

And specifically, they work in something called additive molding.

What does that mean?

It's a pretty fancy way of saying that they can precisely put the carbon fibers in directions and places anywhere that they want.

A normal carbon fiber plate that had these many holes and openings in it would not function.

They were able to make it incredibly strong, incredibly light, and really get specific about where the forces are applied.

So, that Arris carbon fiber plate is the center of this innovation, this particular shoe, but there's another part which is really important, and that's the midsole foam.

And here we've finally teamed up with an external supplier as well.

That's right. That's the Arkema is the company, and Pebax is the specific material, and here we used a beaded Pebax.

The reason for going with the beaded Pebax, there's several kinds in the market, is it just has a higher rebound.

It isn't quite as lightweight, but we were able to overcome the lightweight part because of the Arris plate.

The special features of this foam are the fact that it is very light, very durable, so it's going to continue to fire month after month as you're out there performing.

You will see that by wearing it, that it is very responsive, very soft, and will be comfortable through extremely long rides.

That's exactly correct.

And then a third innovation we want to talk about is the Lightsole that we made in partnership with Vittoria.

And this is quite a bit different than the normally way we were working with Vittoria, because we've been working them on the road to trail section, on the trail section.

This is the first road shoe we've done with them.

That's right. They supported us in coming up with our own compound.

Lightsole is something that has better wet and dry traction and is lighter weight than rubber because we can make it down to almost a millimeter of thickness.

How we used Vittoria though was to go to some of their road tire mechanical treads and use that to apply to our technology.

So we've got this shoe that's going to have great traction and is hyper, hyper lightweight in terms of the bottom profile.

So here we have all the components gathered in one place. Can you guide us through?

Yeah, absolutely. So let's just do the recap first.

We talked about the Lightsole in the bottom that's designed with Arris.

That gives us that lightweight feeling and great traction across different road surfaces.

We've got the, you know, probably the most important is that special Arris composite carbon fiber plate that has a very unique design that's split in a heel.

It's allowing us to maximize performance with any stride, great deceleration and just out of this world acceleration.

And then the beaded Pebax, the XX foam that supports the whole shoe and that talks about the bottom profile.

The one thing that we didn't touch on is another technology called Aeromesh.

This is a wide open, very light and hyper strong material. So it's very breathable, very durable and it's also got a pretty unique look to it.

Yeah, and it adds the total look of the whole shoe as being fast and lightweight because of the construction of the fabric.

That's on the money. And so, you know, Tommy, all that said, all this stuff that we put in that shoe, we're managing to get this thing at sub 200 grams.

You imagine a shoe that's that fast, has that much technology and it is light as a feather.

And it will be by being that light, but also that kind of cushion and comfort, it will be a shoe that a lot of people could wear, which is a difference to a lot of other super shoes on the market.

That's correct. You know, when we go to the lab, one of the things that we do is we test against some of the best shoes in the market.

And, you know, we've this is a pretty big accomplishment in general of what we've achieved the shoe.

I've got some other news for you, and that is that we we are faster in terms of benchmarking than AlphaFly in the lab.

We tested against several shoes and we're faster than than than basically all of them.

But this one is kind of worth highlighting, given that's the most prestigious shoe in their collection.

Let's dive in a little deeper. And, you know, when we say faster, what does the lab tell us?

How do we how do we go about looking at that?

Yeah, you know, the lab test better than I do is I think it's better that you do that.

Well, we said efficiency is really important, right? So we can't just have acceleration. It's also deceleration.

So the acceleration, it's just measuring how much turnover we're getting on that rocker. Right.

And it's pretty close, but we beat the Alpha Fly. I think it's by one increment of measure.

It's pretty small, but we beat it. But if you look at the efficiency and this split heel design we have, we absolutely destroyed it.

And any anything else we could find in the market in terms of how we're able to absorb energy in heel and midfoot strike.

And that's the exciting part. You put these two things together. And I think we really have made the fastest shoe in the market.

We have actually we have made several of the fastest shoe on the market because several of our test shoes did beat the Alpha Fly.

That's a good point. But we picked the best one and we're going to go to market with that.

Of course. Of course.

So, you know, I guess the last part is, you know, how are we going to talk to people about this?

We will for sure talk about this and we'll start already at the end of this year.

And this will be the biggest brand initiative over the year to come.

But we'll talk about that in the about the extent of the activation plan in the campaign slides.

Yeah. So in the marketing sessions, you'll see that it's a really extensive activation plan.

Some of those beautiful campaign assets that you'll find.

So take a look at all that. And let's let's take a brief moment before we go into the rest of the shoes and road and talk about, you know, how marathon runners would look at a shoe rotation to prepare for and then run in a marathon.

Yeah. What exactly would a marathon runner define as a shoe rotation program?

Well, the first one is race day. And we just talked about that shoe. And that's pretty obvious when it comes to race day.

You want to have the fastest of the fast. But you also need to work in fast intervals.

You need to work in long runs and you need to have recovery.

And so those are the main four categories race day, fast intervals, long runs and recovery.

And today we have each shoe for each category of the for the.

That's right. We're making sure we're covering those bases.

So let's go back to some lab data to introduce the next shoe.

Take a look at this at this lab data, which which is going to give us some rebound results.

And what do you notice about the lab results here on both the Nordlite Ultra and Nordlite Speed?

It has pretty extreme measures and it's probably one of the softest and the best when it comes to rebounds.

And that's still the Nordlite. That's true.

The thing that really stood out to us and what is the premise for this next brief is that the Nordlite Ultra without a carbon fiber plate scored almost as well as the Nordlite Speed.

And that really led us into the brief for a shoe that's called the Nordlite Tempo, which is basically Nordlite Speed without a plate and a new upper.

Yeah, there's a there's a bit more to it than that.

And we're going to get into it because there's some exciting things to unveil.

But that's the in short, that's what it is.

And this is really the shoe that's designed for fast intervals.

This is going to be our fastest shoe in the collection that does not have a carbon fiber plate.

And the origins from it actually comes from the collaboration with our run team, with wishes from the run team, as they also were in love with both these shoes.

So they wanted the best out of both of them combined into one shoe.

Yeah, that's exactly right.

So we did do a couple of things that are different than both of our Nordlites that are pretty exciting.

So you'll know that this is our nitrogen infused supercritical foam, which is called Cr foam.

The performance on this and the ride is exceptional, but we've added a little bit extra to it.

We've went to the formula and added a 15 percent PEBA compound to it.

You know what PEBA does?

Well, I know what it does.

I don't know how.

It does.

It's extremely soft and cushioning, but also gives you great rebound.

Yeah. So basically that's going to be 15 percent softer and 15 percent more rebound on a product that's already good.

And you feel it right away when you put it on your feet.

So then the upper is the next part that we innovated and we really went into a double layered engineered mesh that has a mix of highly technical fibers.

This thing is really flexible, really lightweight.

It hugs to your foot and it looks pretty damn cool.

It stands out from whatever upper we've done before.

It's very different.

So when you take a look at the colors that we have here, there is a really exciting bold colorway in the middle and then a white and a black.

And you can kind of get the view by looking at those images how exciting the shoe really looks.

Yeah, it is for sure.

The one in the middle will stand out from the rest once we show it.

But there is another interesting story about it with the Tommy Rivs edition of the black shoe.

Yeah, we all know that he loves black on black shoes.

Black to the floor is one of the things that he's into.

In fact, when he had previous brands that didn't go with the black midsole, he would spray paint them.

So he really likes that black look.

And one of the things that we picked up on is his really cool handwriting and the messages that he gives via Instagram.

His philosophical thoughts.

Yeah, I mean there's some cool stuff in there and we've turned that into a graphic.

So underneath the laces you're going to find some of that messaging that goes along with the black version of the shoe.

So it's a really great range.

And just summing up, we have a really lightweight, highly responsive shoe designed for high speed intervals.

Fits perfectly into the range overall in the shoe rotation.

I mean this thing is just a banger.

It's fast and it's really fun and it just feels great underfoot.

And it also has a great fit.

We've improved the fit so it's really snug without being uncomfortable.

So it's even a competition shoe at a reasonable price level.

Right on.

Nordlite Tempo.

Nordlite Tempo.

All right, so we're going to move on to the Endurance 2.

And before we go into detailing that shoe, we want to take a look at a video from a Swedish retailer.

Why don't you tell us about them?

Yeah, this is probably the best retailer or speciality retailer we have, both in Sweden and North Europe, I would say.

It's called Löplabbet and they have totally fallen in love with the Endurance 2.

And here's a short clip after the testing that they've done.

Are you ready?

Ready.

This is the Craft Endurance 2.

Endurance 2 has a stack height of 37mm in the heel and 28 in the forefoot.

It weighs 250g for males and 215g for females.

Me and Anton haven't seen that many Craft shoes earlier in the market.

But they have developed a lot of nice shoe models. This is an update to Endurance 1.

What do you think of this shoe by Craft?

I think that it's an amazing update. I think it's one of the mostcomfortable shoes from Craft so far.

You get an amazing lively feeling while running. It has a little bit higher drop than some of their other models.

And that is something I value with the shoes.

What stands out about this shoe for you?

Especially the fit and the lively running feeling.

I think that the Px foam in the midsole give you a great response and high rebound.

Craft highlights this foam as well and I also think it stands out.

As you say, it has a very lively and bouncy feel.

From my own experience, since I have has also run in version 1, is that it is a very durable foam.

It also works well with different temperatures. Even if it's cold, it dosen't get stiff.
The shoes holds up the softness.

- I agree! - A big update from the latest version is the upper.

Craft has worked a lot with the fitting.

What do you feel about the shoe fit on Endurance 2?

I really like it. Craft in general has a lot of room in their shoes. Especially when it comes to the toe box.

This shoe really closes the foot in its place and it has a slightly firmer upper.

The shoe keeps the foot in place. It is a safe feeling.

I have a narrow foot with a lot of volume and I would need a little better lacing,

to get a great lockdown over the back of the foot.

- But you have a higher back foot, right? - Exactly! Then I get I great feeling!

A tip there is to add an inner sole.

Because then you fill out the shoe more and then it fits even better for your foot.

Another thing is if you compare the sizes to the U.S, they are a little bit small in size.

You should go for EU sizes to find the correct shoe size. - I agree!

Go up 1/2 size based on US measurements, depending on what you usually have.

If we look at the back here, we have a backward-swept heel counter.

Something I love! It's one of my favorite features on the upper nowadays.

It puts less pressure on the hamstring and I like that very much.

It is very gentle and good there.

If we look at the sole. From one side to the other.

What have Craft done here?

They have put quite a lot of rubber. It's not a super patterned shoe.

But it still has enough grip and is very durable as you say.

You can run many miles without this shoe wearing out.

I think this rubber they use here has a little better grip than some other Craft shoes that l've tried.

Even though it's not super patterned, I still think it works very well.

But it is rather more designed as a road and easier trail type of shoe,

rather than a terrain and all-around shoe.

Which many of their other shoes are made for. - I completely agree!

This shoe has a very distinct rocker. This is also something you feel as you run.

It give you a little bit of an extra push as you're going forward.

You can really feel that it is a little higher in the drop considering the height of the midsole.

A little bit more material in the heel.

Have you run anything in it and how do you feel?

I think this shoe gets a very good all-around profile. I really like that.

I like to have a shoe that allows you to run long distances,

but that also gives you the opportunity to run faster sessions with.

I've run everything from 25km to interval sessions in this shoe.

I think it's nice to be able to just put on a pair of shoes and run any type of session. - I agree.

It's a shoe that fits all sessions.

Thanks to its lively feel it works just as well for faster workouts.

So you feel you can use it for just about anything?

What type of customer would you recommend this shoe to?

I would recommend it to a customer who may have some issues with calves and hamstrings.

Because the shoe relieves those parts in a good way.

Someone who wants a shoe that offers a happy running-feel with a responsive feeling.

It fits equally well on asphalt as well as dirt roads. A very good all-round shoe.

So, that is a pretty good review overall.

I mean, you cannot do much better than getting that kind of a feedback on the Endurance 2, which is a very important shoe for us.

On top of what we got in terms of the review there, by the way, this has been replicated in a lot of places.

And not just here in Sweden.

This is a shoe that really has some power behind it.

We have also gotten some sales results from them in store.

Needless to say, it is flying.

Yes.

I mean, the first order has been flying out.

So, they have been replenished.

And the restocking is already almost sold out to 50%.

So, it is literally flying out of the shell.

So, this is really killer shoe, commercially.

Well, and for that reason, moving forward, when you sell out of a first order and then sell 50% of the reorder, you know you have got something on your hands.

And we have made a pretty considerable investment in the colorways to drive some volume.

So, for the spring 25 season, you can take a look at a lot of freshness in terms of color, some things that really pop.

And there is also the commerciality is covered as well.

So, that is the Endurance 2.

Something that is really exciting in terms of continuation for the spring 25 season.

Do we need to sum it up?

No, not really.

So, we probably will not sum this up.

But we do need to say that, well, let us go to the Pacer.

So, just a little cut here and we will start in two seconds.

So, the Endurance 2, obviously very important.

And from here, we are going to go take a look at another shoe that is really important called the Pacer.

As we are taking a look at the video on screen, it is pretty cool to look at that because the calling card for this shoe is it is really fun underfoot.

Very fun, but also comfortable and a soft ride.

And as you can see, these guys, slow rides, faster rides, it is very versatile going with many runners.

We would consider this a recovery shoe, but it is very versatile and for sure the most mainstream and aggressively priced shoe that we have in the collection.

And we have gotten some feedback again from Believe in the Run.

What did they say?

They are saying, after trying out the Craft Pacer, I am officially a converted fan so much so that my Clifton streak might finally be over.

And that puts a smile on your face for sure.

They finish with a double "Well done, Craft, well done".

And that is pretty powerful.

As big as that shoe is in the market, it tells you how much of a potential mainstream success we have with the Pacer.

So let us dive into what the Pacer is all about.

And the first thing, when we talk about that kind of wonderful lush ride underfoot, that is our new formulation of Px foam.

Px foam is a polymer.

It is a beaded polymer.

We consider it an ETPU.

And all this is a fancy way of saying that this Px foam platform, it is really soft.

It has got high rebound and it is very durable at the same time.

And we tuned this to be the softest of the bunch so you really get that wonderful featherlight soft rebound feel underfoot.

And added to that, we have like a very wide color palette, as you can see here.

A very wide and also commercial color palette with beautiful shades.

Yep, that is absolutely true.

More skews here than in many of the other shoes because it is so commercial.

And it is fresh and it is exciting.

And we have gone into the seasonal palette to make some things that touch on sporty orientation and a little touch of fashion and some things that make it very wearable, you know, for your elite runners, your everyday and really anybody.

And that is what the great thing about this shoe is.

So just summing up the Craft Pacer, another really exciting shoe within the road range, the most mainstream that we have.

You have got that soft Px foam on your foot.

It has got a wide platform so you feel like you can run all day in it.

It fits into the shoe rotation being a recovery shoe but it can do so much more than that.

And it comes at an extremely commercial price level of 140 Euros.

That is a good point.

And, you know, in terms of the, that kind of covers our road running category.

In terms of the shoe rotation, you know, going back to those needs, we have got the race day, the fast intervals, the long runs and the recovery to cover overall.

We have shoes for each one of those in the range, don't we?

We do. I mean, we have spoken about the Kype and the Kype is, of course, the race day shoe to go for.

But for fast intervals, the Nordlite Tempo would be the shoe and for long runs, the Endurance 2.

And then, as you said just right before, the recovery shoe would be the Pacer.

So we have got covered the full shoe rotation program for SS25.

It is most exciting in terms of innovation and the most commercial road running collection that we have ever created by far.

It is really exciting for this season to have Craft Footwear covering that road running category.

So let us move on to trail.

The boom of trail running continues.

In the US only, trail running is one of the fastest growing activities according to Strava data.

We have been thinking of why this is happening and we have some theories.

From one perspective, trail running is often much more beautiful and much more giving than running along the sidewalks or paved roads in the cities.

Also, trail running is in a way smoother on the body, giving the fact that the roads and also the ups and downs will not hurt your knees and your hip as much as running inside a city on tarmac.

Lastly, trail running is also like outdoors.

It is part of a vacation, part of an option for life of being out in the nature and enjoying the neighborhood as you are when you are traveling.

So it is different stories, but also it is a continuation of the outdoor boom that started with the pandemic.

In 2023, at the UTMB in Chamonix, we launched the Pure Trail with a great success with lots of people, lots of comments, lots of things happening around it.

Already at the UTMB, we started talking to our athletes and we used input from them, from the shoe that we had gotten before, but also during the UTMB on how to improve the next iteration.

So I am extremely proud to introduce the Pure Trail Pro.

Well, you can see with the Pure Trail Pro that this thing is rugged.

It is an absolute monster truck and that is a phrase that we coined with the elite team when they got it in their foot.

They could really feel the power of being able to attack different technical terrains.

That was not enough. This Pro version is really taking it a step farther.

With the Pure Trail Pro, we have done a couple of things.

The first is to partner with Vittoria to really up the game in terms of the traction.

We have a 5.5 to 6mm lug profile and some really bold traction, some of the most advanced traction and lug design that they are using at Vittoria.

This is going to really step up the game in terms of traction.

We have also added a compound to that sole which is going to make it work even better.

That particular compound is using some carbon black.

What carbon black does is it allows us to make the rubber softer while keeping it durable so it really grips to anything.

This is by far the most technical trail running shoe that we have made.

Now on top of that, we pulled out a little trick that we used in the road category and we have taken our Cr foam.

This is our nitrogen infused supercritical foam and we have added that 15% PEBA.

We get that softer feeling underfoot making it really comfortable to go over uneven terrains but you also get the high rebound.

Once again, you can really feel this underfoot when you put this shoe on.

The combination of that Vittoria outsole, the new compound and the 15% Piba in the CR foam make this thing pretty special.

It is pretty souped up.

On the upper, we have gone with a really highly technical single layer TPU.

It has got some translucence to it and it has got a little stretch.

For that reason, we were able to make it a little more snug to the foot and that is going to make it even more secure.

This thing is really lightweight as well.

That combination of getting a little bit more snug to the foot, being more lightweight and then the supercharged outsole make this thing a step above the Pure Trail which is a pretty fantastic shoe already.

I can tell you that the Elite team and the people that we have affected with this shoe are super excited, almost as excited as I am.

To sum up, we have the outsole designed together with Vittoria.

We have the new compound in the outsole.

We have the Cr Pro foam in the midsole and then we have the upper with a very much snug and good lock-in.

That creates the Pure Trail Pro.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

That concludes the SS25 Footwear Collection.

I am really thrilled.

I think this collection is absolutely stunning, both color-wise but also with the news that we are adding here.

Let's just finally do a quick sum-up, style by style of the news.

You got it.

In Road to Trail, which let's remember, this is our most important category.

It is what we hang the brand on and our chance to be different.

We have got some really exciting stuff, Nordlite Ultra 2.

We have also got the Ultra 4.

Those are newer and better and positioned at different price points and the excitement of the Explorer.

Let's not forget about that.

Remember that that category is meant to be merchandised with Road and Trail, meaning you can sell it into any account.

Within the Road range, we have the most advanced, most technical product we have made to date in the Kype Pro.

We have got the fastest non-carbon plated shoe that we have made in the Nordlite Tempo.

Let's not forget about the Endurance 2, the shoe that is absolutely getting rave reviews and is flying off the shelves.

Then if we move on to Trail, also one of the most exciting products that we have is the Pure Trail Pro.

It is a real upgrade from the already outstanding Pure Trail.

I almost forgot.

In terms of color, we talked about the merchandising, but if you look within the Road collection, there is a very specific color pack called the Race Day Pack.

It is a very exciting combination of fluorescence with a muted blue, so it really pops.

This was designed for our elite athletes when they race.

If you want to make sure to be seen, support those shoes because they are vibrant, they are beautiful, and you are going to see them at all the major races around the world.

That is it for our SS25 collection.

Well done.

Same to you.

Oh!