Aftera brief digression on Precious But Incredibly Affordable Things, we finally (?) return to talk about Precious Things I Can’t Afford.
Norda for now produces only one shoe-the Norda 001-and sells it at the modest price of $283, about 260 euros. Actually the way the project started I don’t think it can ever become a brand with many products, in fact I imagine they will continue to sell one shoe (in the sense of one pair, don’t worry).
This is because Norda’s philosophy on paper is very simple: we make one product, with the best care and the best materials possible. It costs a lot, but it is made to last a long time, and-in an industry where by necessity the materials are still plastic-derived-durability is perhaps the closest thing to sustainability.
We couldn’t find a trail shoe that was tough enough, light enough or fast enough to take us where we wanted to go. So we created it.
The upper is made of a single sheet of Dyneema-an extremely strong and lightweight fiber, on paper the strongest in the world-laser cut, with no internal stitching. Specifically, it is bio-based Dyneema, which is expected to reduce the environmental footprint during production by 90 percent. The same material is used for the laces (in all honesty, I’ve never had trail shoe laces ripped, but in this case we zero the odds). Sole and midsole are developed in collaboration with Vibram: the former has an original Norda tread pattern designed specifically for Québec terrain, and the latter provides excellent cushioning over long distances without sacrificing responsiveness for shorter, faster trails. Stitching is kept to a minimum and is all done by hand.
Inspired by Canada’s toughest conditions.
The whole shoe was born and developed around the Canadian climate and weather conditions, certainly not among the kindest on the planet. In fact, the whole project was born out of the need to make a shoe that would 100% meet the needs of its creator: when you can’t find any product that suits you, why not imagine a new one?
From the standpoint of concept, mission vision I find many points of contact with the Speedland project; but in this case it seems to me that the approach is much more reasoned and has a future ahead of it. And then I don’t think it’s worth leaving out the fact that the Speedland SL:HSV is unwatchable, while the Norda 001 is beautiful.
You say little?