Diadora Utility has created a line of work footwear and clothing dedicated to the world of women
“A thena is the Greek Goddess protector of arts and crafts,” explains Romina Zanchetta, Marketing & Communication Director of Utility. “When we set out to create a line of safety footwear and workwear dedicated to women, we could only be inspired by her. In fact, we had had the idea of an exclusive project for female professionals in our sights for some time and the acceleration came with Covid, where the safety element became more and more relevant.
An interesting fact is that over 50 per cent of the employees in Diadora Utility are women, with very high percentages in the marketing, communication, product and merchandising roles: therefore, there has been work by women for women’.
How is the design of a safety shoe for female workers developed?
From the tireless activity of the Diadora Research Centre, which has created a line of safety shoes capable of meeting the specific needs of female workers not only from a stylistic point of view, but also from a physiological and biomechanical one. The direct involvement of women at work has been fundamental both to map their needs and to test the final product, launched by the group of Caerano di San Marco (TV) in spring 2023 and destined to gain a significant place on the Italian and European market.
During the construction of the project,’ adds the Marketing & Communication Director, ‘we worked from scratch because we were dealing with a completely new target, and so we started a twofold research: qualitative and quantitative, involving thousands of female workers in Europe with the aim of understanding their needs, expectations and desires in terms of PPE. This was accompanied by an analysis of the physical and postural structure of women, involving the Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia (IBV), a major international research institute, one of the most prestigious in the study of the biomechanics of the human body. Thanks to the sharing of their database, we were able to organize the information and get the project started.
In Italy, our footwear was presented a few months ago,’ adds Romina Zanchetta, ‘at the 1st of May Concert in Rome, where we dressed the professional women who worked on the production of the concert, so we too officially ‘took the stage’. Now, Athena shoes are already in the shops and in the various sales outlets; the first feedback from our customers is very positive, but to have data on a large scale it will still take some time, as we are aware that we have brought a new approach to the world of
safety footwear and initiated a change in culture and mentality.
Certainly it is a beautiful and elegant shoe, but for us it is important to make it clear that in addition to design, there is also a lot of technological research, in order to be able to guarantee workers maximum protection and comfort. The Utility brand has always worked to provide targeted responses to every need. Today, the concept of wellbeing and care for workers is increasingly widespread and deep-rooted, and we must study solutions that go in this direction.
In the first months, how was the market response and in general the interest of shops and corners selling safety footwear?
Romina Zanchetta herself answers. “As I said before, the feedback is absolutely positive! We often meet with company managers and safety managers (RSPP), explaining to them the benefits of providing their employees with the right PPE which, in this case, fully meets the needs of a female worker. The advantage for the company is that it also provides women with maximum comfort and protection, reducing the number of accidents. Over the last few years, we have noticed that the number of sectors where women are employed has grown: in logistics, in the food industry, in transport, in supermarkets, and in fact a large pool of potential has been created”.
Concerning the technological research for the development of the Athena shoe, Michele Risatti, R&D and Quality Manager explains that “For the study of the morphology of the female foot, the collaboration with the Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia (IBV) was fundamental, which has a database of thousands of different female foot forms. Once the results of the interviews were received, the results were cross-referenced. It was concluded that four different macro-areas of concern should be addressed: lacing, last, pressure distribution and footbed. Unisex shoes are generally wide for a female foot and consequently not very fitting. It is difficult to compensate for this inadequacy with lacing alone. For this reason, the new safety shoes in the Athena line are more tapered, while lacing is facilitated by means of the correct combination of holes and lacing straps. In addition, the sole is usually stiff and with a drop very often unable to properly distribute foot pressures. We started with a classic drop, which, added to the ‘two-density thickened’ footbed, led us to determine the height of the heel, capable of distributing pressures evenly between the heel area and the forefoot. Especially for the women’s shoe, it was necessary to provide an increased thickness in the metatarsal area to ensure better protection in that area as well.
The Athena collection also includes a clothing division.
Martina Bertozzo, Merchandising Manager Utility, introduces us to the products in the range: ‘We started from the lifestyle experience of Diadora also for the development of these products. We carefully choose the materials and make the garments with a particular focus on the needs of female workers, to ensure their well-being, breathability and maximum comfort. Whenever possible we use natural fibres, while where necessary we use technical materials, such as polyamide and elastane, which give the garments elasticity and durability. One of the goals we follow is to ensure that feminine lines and shapes are supported with a fitting that naturally follows the movement of the body, such as ergonomic sleeves. We have designed increasingly comfortable garments for indoor use, to be worn for industrial or logistics work, and more structured garments for outdoor work that can adapt to lower temperatures or situations of rain or high humidity.
In certain work contexts, especially when it is required to move from indoors to outdoors, it is important to have a garment that guarantees a constant temperature: the Tech Athena Padded Jacket, for example, is a new addition to the autumn/winter Utility collection that fully satisfies this need. It is a lightweight padded jacket, with Breathing System by Geox technology, the revolutionary perspiration system which, thanks to a special membrane, facilitates the release of perspiration and prevents water from entering, promoting the thermoregulation of the body.”
In the safety sector dedicated to female professionals, to guarantee further growth, there are numerous challenges awaiting Utility, especially in terms of innovation and design. ‘Sector studies,’ adds the manager, ‘show us that the female workforce is becoming increasingly important. Our main challenge is to change the current paradigm that tends to associate workwear mainly with men. In reality, there are many women working in these environments and it is our duty to respond to their specific needs, identifying their requirements in advance and providing the best solution to ensure their well-being in the workplace.
We are constantly in contact with company managers and safety managers who are called upon to select the right clothing for their workers. Utility is able to offer different solutions to suit every need. In the case of groups or supermarket chains, we can customise uniforms with personalised branding and lettering. In this context, we go beyond the parameters of the standard collection to tailor work in response to special requests and needs.
Finally, we asked the manager of Utility which distribution channels are currently used and those planned for the future to promote the Athena line – Martina Bertozzo concludes by saying: “For years, we have been focusing on our priority channels, which include distributors and points of sale specialising in safety clothing. We will continue to invest in our presence in shops, as we believe that for an innovative and casual garment, the experience of seeing, touching and trying it on still makes a difference. This is why we create corners in the various points of sale with dedicated display materials to better showcase our products and improve the shopping experience for consumers.
Romina Zanchetta, Marketing & Communication Director Utility
Martina Bertozzo e Romina Zanchetta