While at the 2017 PGA Merchandise show, we stopped by the home of comfort, Ecco.  Tom Dixon demonstrated the waterproof technology and the GORE-TEX® technology in the Ecco Cool shoe.

Tom Brassell: 2017 PGA Merchandise Show continues at the Home of Comfort here at ECCO. Tom Dixon joining us. Tom, thanks so much.

Tom Dixon: Thanks very much for stopping by. We appreciate it.

Tom Brassell:  What do we got here? I got some shoes on, and we got the …

Tom Dixon:What we got you in is we got you in the new ECCO Cool. ECCO Cool is based on gore tex surround technology. Gore tex is known for being waterproof. Surround technology, what it does is it makes a shoe 360 degree breathable and waterproof, so the mid-sole is vented on that shoe. What happens is is that as your foot heats up and there’s more moisture builds in the bottom of your foot, it takes that moisture and that heat and it puts it out through the mid-sole. So you have a much more better climate control for the inside of your foot. Same way you have climate control for your car, this is climate control for the inside of the shoe. Keeps it much more comfortable atmosphere. You talked about comfort, and we wanted to work with gore tex. How do we make the inside of the she more comfortable?

Tom Brassell: Well, it’s comfortable right now, so let’s get started. What do you want me to do?

Tom Dixon: Step right in here and we’ll get the water flowing there. Yeah. So the idea with the cool technology is that even though you have the vented mid-sole and you have the water on your feet right now, it still makes the whole thing breathable. So even if you’re stepping in a pond and you have the holes in the sole, which make them more breathable, you still have that gore tex lining all the way around the bottom to keep your feet dry, but also keep your feet cool at the same time.

Tom Brassell:   Wow. This is really unique. Okay.

Tom Dixon: Very good.

Tom Brassell: Gee whiz. Man. All right.

Tom Dixon: So this is … Gore tex surround technology actually exists in other areas of the shoe industry, but this is a first gore tex surround golf shoe.

Tom Brassell:   Wow. Interesting. This is awesome. Yeah. Feels great.

Tom Dixon: Yeah. With ECCO, we build the comfort into every shoe. So because we do DIP, direct injection process, everything is built right into the shoe all with the Desmo machines we use and the polyurethane that goes right into the back.

Tom Brassell:  The one thing about ECCO, even though we’ve got, like you said, the waterproof technology, we don’t sacrifice one thing with comfort.

Tom Dixon: No. No, no. Not at all. And that was the idea with working with gore tex was to build the comfort in. Because we are such a comfort brand. That’s what we want to just keep people coming back to our shoes for. We’re really known for our comfortable shoes. We have a freedom fit, which is a little bit more snug in the heel and the instep, but then you get a little bit more room in your toes. So it’s a little bit of a wider at the front, but you always have a little bit more room for your toes to move around, but you always have that snug fit. That’s one of the issues that a lot of people come across is that because we’re European sizing, it’s full sizes, and people are kind of … A lot of North Americans are known for “I need a half size.” But because it’s snug in the heel and the instep, you really get that comfort on the full sizes.

Tom Brassell:It’s always comfortable here at ECCO. It’s always great. Tom, thanks so much for taking time with us.

Tom Dixon: Thanks very much for stopping by.