April 4, 2015 – The origin of the revolutionary hybrid golf shoes is in Denmark. The multinational company ECCO, leading manufacturer of innovative footwear that best combines style and comfort, is located in the middle of the Danish countryside, loyal to its philosophy of creating a shoe committed to the environment, in an ecological and natural way. When Karl Toosbuy decided to found ECCO in pursuit of his dream to run his own business making shoes, he couldn’t have imagined how far-reaching it would become. The company now sells more than 20 million pairs annually.

Trained as a shoemaker, he was already managing a shoe factory in Copenhagen at the age of 30, although it was not his. So in 1963 he decided to start out alone and moved to Bredebro, a small village on the west coast of Denmark just north of the German border, where he settled with his family. Although the early days were difficult, he worked hard with a small team, and become the first shoemaker to realize that shoes should be made to fit the foot, not the other way around, thereby breaking with centuries of shoemaking tradition.

As a visionary of the large-scale shoe industry, Karl Toosbuy developed his brand with the use of high-tech machinery, expanding the production and distribution worldwide, while constantly challenging himself and his staff, suppliers or customers to do things better, faster and differently. Nothing was more important for him than the quality of the shoes.

That ECCO is one of the world’s leading brands in this industry is due to the fact that the company is responsible for the entire manufacturing process, from beginning to end, and it’s production of premium leather, of the highest quality. But in its over 50 years of successful history, the major change in how sports footwear is understood developed under the direction of today’s president and CEO, Dieter Kasprzak, through the Golf Division.

Professional players like Fred Couples or Ernie Els are trendsetters every time they step on the green, approving the pioneer hybrid shoe design of ECCO. Again breaking boundaries, the brand developed the first hybrid golf shoe in 2010, when the company became the fourth largest golf shoe supplier of the world. With the Golf Street, the bestselling model designed precisely by Kasprzak, a new category of urban-inspired functional golf shoe was born, to be worn comfortably both on and off the golf course. It was launched in the Spring-Summer 2010 collection, and became a revolution in the golf world when Fred Couples wore it in The Masters, and although he didn’t win (he came 6th), it became the planet’s most admired and desired shoe.

The advanced E-DTS (ECCO Dynamic Traction System) patented outsole technology, with a low profile, features 100 moulded traction bars of durable TPU, creating more than 800 traction angles. This, combined with the Natural Motion (BIOM) technology, which provides exceptional stability and comfort levels to adapt to the anatomical and biomechanical way of walking, and an upper of Tibetan yak (a soft, durable and breathable leather, three times stronger than conventional leathers), is what has given ECCO the prestige and reputation for which it is recognized throughout the golf world.

From this point there are many competitor brands which include hybrid models to their collections, while ECCO, after the Golf Street, is now in its fourth generation of hybrids, with the BIOM Hybrid, Tour Hybrid and BIOM Hybrid 2 adding styles, kinds of leather and colours to their lines, which many have defined as the most comfortable golf shoes in the world… and that improve year by year. Besides hybrids ECCO also produces cleated classic-style and sports golf shoes, always with premium materials, for men, women and children.

More information at www.ecco.com/golf and www.holgolf.com.

Por MIGUEL ANGEL BUIL