Vibram

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Vibram S.p.A.
Type	Public
Founded	1937
Headquarters	Italy
Industry	Footwear
Products	Rubber soles, footwear
Website	www.vibram.com

Vibram S.p.A. is an Italian company based in Albizzate that produces rubber outsoles for footwear. The company is named after its founder, Vitale Bramani. Bramani is credited with inventing the first rubber soles for shoes. These soles were first used on mountaineering boots.

The soles produced by Vibram are called Vibram soles, Vibram rubber, or simply 'Vibram'.

[edit] History

In 1935, the deaths of six of Bramani's mountaineering friends in the Italian Alps was partly blamed on inadequate footwear. The tragedy drove Vitale Bramani to develop a new climbing sole. Two years later, he patented his invention and launched the first rubber soles on the market with a tread design called the 'Carrarmato', with the financial backing of Leopoldo Pirelli of Pirelli Tires. The sole was designed to provide excellent traction on the widest range of surfaces, have a high degree of abrasion resistance, and was made using the latest vulcanized rubber of the time.

In 1954, the first ever successful summit of K2 was made by an Italian expedition wearing Vibram rubber on their soles.

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[edit] Vibram Now

Today, Vibram soles are manufactured in Brazil, China, Italy and the USA, and are used by more than a thousand footwear manufacturers in their footwear products.

In the USA, Vibram soling products are manufactured under exclusive license by Quabaug Corporation.

Although the brand is best known among the outdoor and mountaineering community, Vibram produces numerous models of soles specifically designed for fashion, military, rescue, law enforcement or industrial use. Vibram also produces soles for the sole purpose of footwear resoling.

Among the footwear manufacturers that use Vibram soles on their products are Ugg, Teva, The North Face, Tsubo, Scarpa, Merrell, Timberland, Chaco, L.L. Bean, Lowa, Asolo, Rockport, Columbia Sportswear, Nike-ACG and Hi-Tec. Some high profile collaborations include Giorgio Armani, Prada Sports, Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss and Alden Shoe Company.