Made in Europe – from upper to outsole
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- Feel the Bead – dynamic comfort with every step. Made by BASF and HANWAG
- Grip and comfort – the high tech sole from Italy
- Lightweight and durable – upper fabric from Italy
- Waterproof and breathable – thanks to Gore-Tex Invisible Fit
- Comfortable and abrasion-resistant – lining fabric from Swabia
- Certified and abrasion-resistant – shoelaces ‘Made in Baden-Württemberg’
- Made in Europe – built in Croatia
“100% Made in Europe”– this is the HANWAG sustainability promise. We make all our footwear in Europe – every single model. This saves long transport routes and fuel consumption that leads to higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In addition, our production sites are governed by strict European environmental regulations and health and safety standards. These are just two of the most important advantages over the large number of shoes made in Asia.
Moreover, for us, made in Europe means that virtually every single part of a HANWAG boot or shoe is manufactured in Europe. We’d like to show you what this means in practice for the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX. All its parts are produced by high-quality, specialist European manufacturers, from the upper to the laces, and the lining to the outsoles.
Join us on a journey to visit the suppliers behind our lightweight hiking shoe.
1. Feel the Bead – dynamic comfort with every step. Made by BASF and HANWAG
The HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is a shoe designed to offer outstanding comfort. Its cushioning midsole has high energy return properties. This rebound effect promotes dynamic hiking comfort with every step.
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The HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is a shoe designed to offer outstanding comfort. Its cushioning midsole has high energy return properties. This rebound effect promotes dynamic hiking comfort with every step.
This is all possible thanks to a special foam material developed by BASF. The German chemical experts have developed a cushioning material from expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (E-TPU). It offers excellent cushioning performance, and also retains its properties over time to deliver extended mileage – and greater sustainability.
A further specialist supplier from HANWAG – see below – integrates this E-TPU material in the form of small beads into the midsole units of the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX. In fact, we are the first ever outdoor footwear manufacturer to implement this innovative technology from BASF.
2. Grip and comfort – the high tech sole from Italy
Who integrates the BASF beads into the midsoles? Frasson SpA, the footwear experts from Loria, North Italy in the province of Treviso.
Since 1918, Frasson has been producing soles for renowned producers of sport, outdoor and safety footwear – including HANWAG for over 40 years. Frasson generally supplies complete sole units, consisting of a midsole with a cushioning element (generally PU) and profiled outsole.
Made in Europe – find out more about how committed we are to sustainability here.
HANWAG develops its soles together with the Italian experts to ensure that they perfectly match the requirements of their corresponding shoe model. The sole for the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is no different. Frasson adds the e-TPU beads to a PU compound. Using a special machine, the combined compound is poured onto the outsole using an aluminium mould. After being left for a few minutes to settle, the sole is given its final touches. The finished sole unit is then sent to Croatia, to the HANWAG production site to be joined to its upper.
Frasson receives the E-TPU beads from BASF in Germany. “And the PU for the Kaduro project comes from BASF too,” explains Gianni Frasson, who is now the fourth generation of his family to run the company. To be more precise, the PU is supplied by a BASF plant in Italian Piedmont. “The technical mix of E-TPU beads and PU foam is carefully blended to give the required properties,” adds Gianni Frasson.
Frasson makes not just the midsole, but also the outsole developed specially for the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX at his production site in Udine, Italy. The tread pattern and rubber compound are designed to deliver durability, grip and performance.
“We want to be as near to our European customers as possible – like HANWAG. So that we can remain in close contact.”
Gianni Frasson, managing director Frasson SpA, with his sons Carlo (l.) and Alberto. Photo: Frasson SpAFrasson employs over 300 employees in Italy, and also at plants in Albania and Croatia. The ‘Made in Europe’ concept is important to Gianni Frasson: “We want to be as near to our European customers as possible – like HANWAG. So that we can remain in close contact.”
This means that it is quicker and easier to collaborate at all stages of a project.”
For the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX, the cooperation with Frasson made it possible to develop a new and unique sole technology to ensure long-lasting hiking comfort.
Discover the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX
Whether short walks or long hikes – the Kaduro Light GTX & the Kaduro Light Lady GTX are built for energy return and endurance. The lightweight, cushioning and long-lasting hiking shoe features an innovative midsole and a Gore-Tex Invisible Fit technology.
3. Lightweight and durable – upper fabric from Italy
The upper material used in the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is made by Texon. Founded in 1947, the company delivers high-quality materials for the footwear industry, including fabrics, toe caps and footbeds for premium sport shoes. The Kaduro’s upper fabric was developed at the Texon production site in Prato, near Florence.
“The material is a further development of our Croda fabric,” explains Enrico Neri, technical director at Texon. “The fabric contains highly tear- and abrasion-resistant polyester fibres normally used for military boots or protective safety shoes. In addition, the polyester fibres are coated in polyurethane. This further increases their durability and makes them pleasant to the touch.”
A weaving machine at the Texon production site at Prato in Florence. It weaves two different fabrics together. Photo: Texon
According to Enrico Neri, the challenge is to make the fabric lightweight and tear-resistant, but also breathable and comfortable. “We worked alongside HANWAG’s design team for many months to develop the perfect combination of characteristics.” Upper material durability is probably one of the most important factors for the durability and therefore the sustainability of a shoe. (–> A guide to sustainable hiking footwear)
16 people work for Texon in Prato. “Our employees have up to 25 years of experience in the textile industry,” explains Enrico Neri. “You won’t find this level of expertise and innovation in many other places in the world. However, this is what it takes to be able to make a high-quality functional fabric like the one we made for the HANWAG Kaduro.”
Everything you need to know for your next outdoor adventure – the HANWAG BOOTCAMP. And check out our ‘how to’ videos on our YouTube channel.
4. Waterproof and breathable – thanks to Gore-Tex Invisible Fit
The HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is waterproof, windproof, and breathable – all thanks to its integrated membrane technology – Gore-Tex Invisible Fit. The special thing about it is that the membrane is bonded directly to the shoe’s upper material. This makes the upper fabric thinner than in conventional bootie constructions and prevents its outer surface from becoming saturated with water – both advantages that help save weight.
Gore is headquartered in the US, but has production sites all over the world. It produces at its plants with the shortest transport routes to the production sites of its main brand partners. The Gore sites at Putzbrunn and Feldkirchen-Westerham are less than an hour’s drive from the HANWAG head office in Vierkirchen, Bavaria. This is where Gore develops its footwear technologies and tests out its prototypes.
The short distances to and regular contact with Gore enables the HANWAG design team to remain at the cutting edge of the latest technological developments. With the Kaduro Light GTX, HANWAG is deploying Invisible Fit technology for the first time – to offer reliable waterproofing and greater wear comfort.
5. Comfortable and abrasion-resistant – lining fabric from Swabia
The lining fabric used inside the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX contains a level of innovation and expertise that you won’t find outside of Europe. In particular, the edging fabric where the lining meets the upper is subject to significant wear and tear when taking a shoe on and off and when walking. For this reason, it’s important to use a material that is abrasion-resistant, but also breathable and soft to the touch.
Founded in 1872, zwissTEX makes a fabric that fits exactly these requirements. The Baden-Württemberg company specializes in technical fabrics for everything from car seats to outdoor equipment. “The fabric in question is a liner fabric made 100 per cent of polyamide 6,” explains sales manager Christoph Kaiser. The fabric ticks all the boxes for the HANWAG designers, including the fact that it’s given a PFAS-free water-repellent finish.
“The raw material for the lining fabric is produced directly in the zwissTEX plant in Heldenfingen, near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg. Then it’s dyed at the Erzgebirge textile finishing plant in Cranzahl,” explains Christoph Kaiser. This means that all stages of production take place in Germany.
“Our laces are 100% made in Baden-Württemberg.”
Marc Zierhut, managing director Adolf Sauter GmbH & Co. KG6. Certified and abrasion-resistant – shoelaces ‘Made in Baden-Württemberg’
The shoelaces for the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX come from Baden Württemberg, in southwest Germany – or as Marc Zierhut puts it, they’re ‘Made im Ländle’ as the south-western German State of Baden-Württemberg is often called. Marc Zierhut is managing director of the Sauter shoelace company, who have been making laces and braided goods since 1924 in Eislingen, near Göppingen.
For its laces, HANWAG does resort to using mass-produced items from Asia, but instead uses German suppliers. Sauter also sources the yarns used to produce the laces in Germany. “They’re made of polyester. This ensures that the colour remains even and consistent and it can take a PFC-free water-repellent finish,” explains Marc Zierhut. Sustainability is important to Sauter, and the company holds numerous certifications, including the Oeko-Tex Standard 100.
Despite its lightweight design, the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX offers good durability to provide a long product lifespan. The shoelaces made by Sauter help to support this. According to Marc Zierhut, they deliver outstanding tensile strength (up to 1,000 newtons) and high abrasion resistance (up to 500,000 test cycles) – depending on the yarn type used.
This means you can lace your HANWAG shoes and boots as tight as you like in full confidence. (–> How to tie hiking boots)
7. Made in Europe – built in Croatia
As you can see, our components are made in Europe. But for a product to bear the label ‘Made in Europe’, it also has to be produced in Europe. In the case of the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX, this is taken care of in Croatia – or to put it more accurately in Donje Ladanje, about one and a half hour’s drive north of Zagreb.
Digital road trip: Come with us to visit the HANWAG production site in Croatia
Since 1999, HANWAG has been producing various models there with its partner company Consors. For the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX, this means that the upper is stitched together from the outer fabric and lining fabric and then glued with the sole unit. The shoe is then given its toe protection and fitted with a footbed. Once it’s equipped with its additional waterproof finish, it’s ready for wear.
Conclusion: Responsible manufacturing and European footwear expertise
The HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is a good example of how it’s possible to combine responsible manufacturing with high-quality production standards and sustainability commitments. The individual parts and materials used to make the shoe come from specialist suppliers around Europe. These are then all assembled in Croatia.
As such, the HANWAG Kaduro Light GTX is a durable, long-lasting companion for outdoor adventures – and because it’s 100% Made in Europe, it has the smallest possible carbon footprint too.
