Canada’s rugged terrain is influencing how brands, such as Norda seen here, are creating performance gear that mirrors the environment it’s built to handle.Claudia Knoepfel
When Montreal-based trail shoe brand Norda proclaims its footwear is “inspired by Canada’s toughest conditions,” the company means it. Need proof? Just turn a pair of their hard-wearing shoes upside down and look at the sole. The tread is functional and also has lines that mimic the contours of the pre-Cambrian rock that makes up the Canadian Shield with an outline of the Island of Montreal right in the middle.
“We often say Montreal is in our ‘soul,’” says Norda co-founder Willa Martire. “We’re very proud Montrealers and Canadians, so it was really important in our design to make a nod to our Canadian heritage. But at the same time, we wanted our shoe to be neutral. We didn’t want to have a Canadian flag, because it was important to be an international brand as well.”
Long-time shoemakers and avid trail runners themselves, Ms. Martire and her husband Nick Martire started the company in 2020 after decades of working at brands including Nike, Aldo and Steve Madden. Their goal is to make a trail running shoe that outperforms and outlasts their competitors. And they didn’t just look to Canadian landscapes for aesthetic inspiration. In the two years it took to design their first shoe, the Martires spent a lot of time considering this country’s environment and climate.
Norda isn’t the only Canadian company in the adventure apparel sector that is looking to its homeland for inspiration on the look, feel and functionality of their products. From small businesses such as Fredericton-based Adventure Trail Gear and Ontario’s Bowman Gear to big players such as Canada Goose, many are increasingly making Canada a part of their brand story.
Markus Giesler, a professor of marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business, says there’s sound reasoning behind these moves.
“It’s an important way to compete effectively in a red ocean market,” he says, using the term for a saturated and competitive market with intense competition. “Obviously, the question these companies ask themselves is, ‘How do we differentiate ourselves from the rest of the crowd?’ You couldn’t ask for a busier industry in many ways. And yet, these brands find ways to tell captivating stories and design experiences that allow them to compete more effectively.”
Dr. Giesler points to four different strategies at play here, each based on a different way that consumers connect with brands. The first is based on features, innovative design and top-of-class materials that promise the best experience. The second is based on purpose, which focuses on values such as sustainability or inclusion. The third is based on flow, as in the ways a product might save time or otherwise “remove consumers from the everyday treadmill of life,” as he puts it. The last is based on emotions.
When brands tell stories that spark feelings of belonging and national pride, it can be very powerful, which is especially true in the outdoor gear sector.
“There’s something about the Canadian outdoors that makes us want to forge these strong and enduring emotional bonds,” Dr. Giesler says.
The sole of the Norda 001A is patterned after the Canadian Shield’s natural contours.Julien Payette-Tessier
All of these strategies are at play at Norda. According to Mr. Martire, trail runners run for such long distances, in such tough conditions, that they can go through as many as six pairs in a single year. Norda shoes were designed to minimize that turnover, while also keeping them as light as possible to maximize energy efficiency.
Materials play an important role in that equation. The top portion of Norda’s shoes are made from a material called Dyneema®, an ultra-strong, ultra-lightweight composite fabric more commonly seen in ropes and winches for offshore oil and gas rigs, mining draglines and pendants, as well as superyacht sails. Billed as 15 times lighter and stronger than steel, larger companies had previously tried to use this material in footwear, but the Martires and their team were the first to figure out how to actually do it. (The process involves lasering layers of Dyneema together to create a seamless, strong upper.)
As a result, its trail shoes are lightweight (the 001A, an upgrade on the brand’s first shoe, weighs 268 grams for a men’s U.S. 8.5, about 10-per-cent lighter than the original design. Meanwhile, the 005 model, which is designed for race days,weighs 214 grams.
For comparison, the average trail running shoe weighs 296 grams, according to athletic shoe review site RunRepeat.) The co-founders say using Dyneema makes their shoes more durable than their competitors without adding weight, an important factor considering their commitment to sustainability.
The mid-sole was another custom design, utilizing extra-supportive foam; while the sole, a collaboration with Vibram, the Italian-based world leader in rubber soles, is super grippy with deep lugs, which creates a tread pattern that can help runners navigate muddy, rocky or otherwise treacherous terrain.
“When design responds to real conditions (for example, weather, how the product will be handled, wear and tear), the product not only performs better, it will also last longer,” says Ranee Lee, a professor of industrial design at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. “This is very important … to reduce waste and create a more meaningful connection between the object and its user.”
What’s more, she notes, it’s an especially good time to be taking this approach.
“With all this political and global unrest, I think Canadians are looking for deeper ways to connect and belong. This is an opportunity for companies to stand for something, because I think customers are looking for meaning and authenticity these days.”
That’s certainly the case at Norda.
“We have four seasons, sometimes in one day, so we’re innately prepared for the elements,” Mr. Martire says. “It’s just natural to us as Canadians, so I think that’s the first thing that gives us the authenticity to create these products right here in our own backyard. We’re just very proudly Canadian.”