For the first time in its 90 year history, Zamberlan’s 2019 launch of its Epic Women range saw footwear designed, conceived, tested and produced for the needs of the female fit, weight, energy, performance and aesthetics. The company stated, ‘It has been developed to honour the talent and legacy of courageous women who have changed the history of mountaineering.’
On a tour of its Italian factory, I was struck throughout by the warm family atmosphere, good humour and the evident pride in what was being made. The new line was conceived and designed by an almost all-female team with three factors guiding its creation:
- NEED – detailed research was carried out to discover the real needs of today’s female mountain, hill and nature lovers.
- CONSTRUCTION – the boots have technical features built specifically to accommodate the foot, the fit and the posture of women.
- SPIRIT – the range captures the fearless spirit of the first female ‘climbers’, who challenged the prejudices of their time and made history by opening the way in mountains and in life for all women.
Following the success of the ‘Epic Women’ launch, Zamberlan has added two new boots to the range.
The new Rosa GTX is the most technical boot in the range. It features the same sole unit as the best-selling Ultra-Lite boot and has an excellent level of support and cushioning around and under the foot. It has a soft fabric collar around the ankle zone for added comfort and the elastic gusset promises a superior fit. This is a serious women’s hillwalking boot.
The Frida GTX is described as a more feminine version of the popular Trail Lite Evo and has a single piece leather upper and a Gore-Tex bootie to keep feet dry; the soft insole provides great flexibility and comfort. The Frida is a light, comfortable and stylish boot, which is perfect for walking around the town, days in the countryside with family or for walking the dog.
Giuseppe Zamberlan started the company with a simple shoe repair facility in the mountain range of the Piccole Dolomiti, following the end of World War 1. Motivated by his love of the local mountains, he moved on to footwear protection and support.
Zamberlan is now distributed in more than 40 countries and continues to manufacture its most traditional and prestigious models in Italy. Today, the company is run by Giuseppe’s grandchildren, siblings Marco and Maria, who maintain the family commitment to continuing the tradition of producing quality, comfortable and high performing footwear.
Celebrating the company’s anniversary, CEO and mountaineer Marco Zamberlan said, “We constantly invest in technology and manufacturing processes so that we can combine innovation with our artisan methods: for example, the manual dexterity needed during the complex Norwegian construction methods has to work perfectly with the most modern techniques.”
Company President Maria Zamberlan added, “The Zamberlan family has been completely involved in the company from the very beginning. We live and breathe the business every day. During these last 90 years, we maintained the company and production facilities in the same town here in Italy. We did this out of a great respect for the territory and our craftsmen, with whom we have a long and close history.”
