After a Standout 2024, Here Is a Look at the Arc’Teryx Footwear Strategy for 2025
At the start of 2024, Arc’Teryx revealed it was now designing and creating its own footwear entirely in-house, after nearly 10 years of insights and expertise from fellow Amer Sports brand Salomon. That change has paid off.
During its earnings call on Tuesday, Amer Sports chief executive officer James Zheng stated Arc’Teryx sales eclipsed $2 billion in 2024, and in the fourth quarter alone delivered strong growth across all categories — especially footwear.
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“We believe that it will become a sizable and profitable growth avenue for Arc’Teryx, both in own retail and certain brand-relevant wholesale accounts,” Zheng said of the category.
Speaking with FN, Ovidio Garcia — who joined Arc’Teryx in 2021 as its vice president of footwear — revealed a specific focus for the brand within the category.
“We want to be the leader in pinnacle mountain terrain. Everything we do and create is around the mountain athlete and how these people move. That is the space that we want to own,” said Garcia, who previously spent 15 years at Nike. “Our commitment to the consumer is to enable them to defy their limits in vertical mountain terrain.”
One of this year’s highlights is the introduction of the Vertex Speed, a hybrid mountain running shoe that features characteristics of a climbing shoe in order to trek through technical terrain.
“Vertex is a space that we believe we own,” Garcia said. “It’s the intersection between running and climbing, which is the main hybridization of activities that our athletes are doing on mountain missions. It’s an insight that came directly from how our athletes are traveling and moving in mountain terrain, where trail running shoes were not grippy or durable enough to sustain the missions that they were doing, and approach shoes were too clunky and heavy.”
The uppers are made from lightweight and abrasion-resistant Matryx fabric and features an integrated flat knit gaiter to seal out debris and moisture, as well as a tech-lace system provides to avoid slipping. Underfoot, the Vertex Speed features dual-density midsole construction with softer heel for comfort and a firmer forefoot for support, and Vibram Megagrip outsoles using its Litebase technology to offer enhanced grip at a reduced weight.
The Vertex Speed will debut in April in both a low ($180) and a mid ($190).
Arc’Teryx will also debut a new approach shoe, the Konseal, which an updated version of the acclaimed Konseal AR. This look is built for carrying heavy loads in rugged alpine environments.
“It’s a shoe that we’ve been doing for a long time, a classic-looking approach shoe with a leather upper. Here, we really focused on the fit and cleaning up the lines, and then durability, stability and grip,” Garcia explained. “And we took a lot of weight out of the shoe. When you look at it, it’s really burly, but it feels light when you grab it.”
The uppers — which include an improved heel-lock for both blister prevention and surefootedness — are made from durable natural nubuck leather. Also, Arc’Teryx employed a new lacing system that extends to the toe for a customized fit.
Underfoot, Arc’Teryx added lightweight compressed EVA midsoles, as well as a carbon shank for stability and to offer the stiffness required for carrying heavy loads on uneven terrain. The look is completed with Vibram’s XS Flash 2 outsoles, which aims to offer the wearer rock-climbing confidence.
The Konseal arrives in July and will come in a Gore-Tex version ($220) and one without Gore-Tex ($190).
Arc’Teryx will also bolster its popular Norvan franchise with two new looks in 2025.
In March, the brand will release the Norvan LD 4, a long-distance running shoe designed with mountain training and adventures in mind.
“This shoe is really the one shoe for any adventure in the mountains where your underfoot confidence and stability is essential,” Garcia said.
The uppers feature two woven materials that are free of added PFAS and mapped to pair flex and breathability with abrasion-resistance. Arc’Teryx also added a lacing system that was designed to offer a secure midfoot fit while preventing heel slippage, a flat-knit tongue that wraps the foot for lockdown and comfort-focused, form-molded sockliners.
Underfoot, Arc’Teryx equipped the Norvan LD 4 with its 45C dual-density midsole construction (with a reduced stack height from its predecessor) that combines cushioning with shock absorption and support, as well as Vibram Megagrip outsoles with its Litebase technology for both durability and lightweight grip across all conditions.
Arc’Teryx will release the Norvan LD 4 in a Gore-Tex version ($200) and one without Gore-Tex ($170).
The second look is the Norvan Nivalis, a mountain running shoe built for training and adventures that in winter conditions.
“This is incredibly light and protective, and aesthetically it is beautiful,” Garcia said. “The challenge here was to minimize the points of failure. The majority of winterized versions of running shoes, they have a zipper. The challenge was how can we do an upper without a zipper that you can get in and out of easily, and at the same time gives you that winterized protection against water and mud and slush?”
The weatherproof uppers are built with Gore-Tex Invisible Fit technology, and Arc’Teryx equipped the look with an over-the-ankle gaiter to seal out snow, debris and rain. Also, there is a single pull lacing system for a seamless fit and a foot hold system that aims to reduce the risk of toe bang on long descents.
The midsoles are compressed EVA, and the brand explained the shape is designed to be compatible with running spikes to allow for more traction in slush, ice and snow. And the outsoles are Vibram Megagrip with Litebase technology to offer grip at a reduced weight.
The Norvan Nivalis arrives in October and will retail for $250.
Looking ahead, Garcia said Arc’Teryx will continue to build out its franchise families — but won’t overextend the product lines.
“One thing we’ve done really well over the past year, two years, was create an amazing product pipeline,” Garcia said. “We have a cadence of every 24 months to update the models that we have, that is the product life cycle that we apply to the majority of them, and they stagger. Every season, we have a new story, and this corresponds with the pace of the consumer and the pace of the market today.”
He continued, “We will continue to build upon that, but it’s not endless. It’s not going to be massive. We will contain it quite a bit.”
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