The Goodyear process owes its name to the eldest son of the homonymous Charles, who invented the vulcanization of rubber, first applied to tires and then used in different fields, not least footwear.
It will be Charles Goodyear Junior himself who will invest skills and capital in the study - first - and then in the realization - of a process for shoes that would guarantee comfort and perfect execution without compromising the design and the artisan nature of the workmanship.
Today Goodyear processing is used all over the world and is easily recognizable. From a technical point of view it consists in the union of a flap of material (generally leather, but also plastic or rubber depending on the model) to the body of the shoe (the upper) and to the insole, and then to the sole.
The union takes place through the use of only the stitching or, in some cases, even with the aid of special glues. It is a high-precision process that not all manufacturers can carry out in a workmanlike manner.
This process first of all solves a typical problem of modern shoes: in principle, the shoes on the market tend to have a very limited duration, beyond which - for example, when the sole is irreparably worn - the shoes themselves must be thrown away and changed.
This falls within the logic of the profit of large industries but does not correspond to a practice which must necessarily be followed. For example, thanks to the Goodyear processing, the sole of the shoe can be changed several times without this negatively impacting the structure of the shoe itself.
This is a very important detail because it multiplies the life of the accessory for a time much higher than the average of footwear on the market.
In addition, the Goodyear processing allows to create extremely comfortable shoes that harmoniously match the shape of the foot, giving a feeling of lightness even after several hours of use.
Solidity is another strong point of the shoe made with this type of processing: the perfect union of the various components of the shoe (the upper, the welt, the sole and the insole) guaranteeing a resistant structure that lasts over time even regardless of the wear of the sole.
Goodyear workmanship is today a high level standard all over the world, a guarantee of a recognizable and extremely elegant design. The shoes that boast this type of construction boast a particular edge at the origin of the sole, where the body of the shoe "falls" inwards giving the accessory the typical lines synonymous with elegance, refinement and modernity at the same time.