In 2019, Blundstone set its sights on the next generation of work and safety boots. Blundstone spent years researching what the industry needs from their footwear and the challenges faced by the modern workforce.
After launching our RotoFlex composite toe cap range in 2022 and steel range in 2023, Blundstone Australia’s RotoFlex range has been recognised with one of Australia’s most prestigious awards.
The RotoFlex Safety Footwear received a Good Design Award Winner Accolade for outstanding design and innovation. The jury commented that the Blundstone RotoFlex Range “expertly adapts core design thinking.”
“An excellent use of research, interactive design and testing has produced a rugged, purpose-driven boot. Constructed with recycled components, the Blundstone RotoFlex Range is safe, comfortable and long-lasting,” the panel comments read.
Ingenuity throughout
Blundstone learned that ankle rolls, trips and falls are some of the most common worksite injuries. Tradies told the team at Blundstone they wanted support and protection, without sacrificing pain-free, all-day comfort. We also learned that comfort and fit play a key role in reducing fatigue and injury and that women’s feet need specific support to cater for variables such as arch heights, range of motion and everything in between.
During the initial RotoFlex research, Blundstone expanded its understanding of the differences between men’s and women’s feet and the support they need to tackle the worksite.
This led to Blundstone’s team to design two composite styles and two steel styles in the RotoFlex range that offer a genuine women’s fit. As we approach International Women’s Day and Women in Construction Week, Blundstone is striving to ensure women in trade understand what it means to say, “genuine women’s fit.”
The shoe fits
Blundstone uses “genuine women’s fit” to highlight products that have been created on a woman’s footwear mould, also known as a last. This takes into consideration variables like shape, length, and circumference—because women’s feet are not just smaller versions of men’s.
Four styles in the RotoFlex range offer a genuine women’s fit—the composite #8860 in wheat nubuck, the #8863 in stone nubuck, and the steel #9960 in wheat nubuck and #9961 in black leather.
To show that Blundstone is committed to women’s support, comfort, and safety, its taken this specificity one step further. Each Women’s RotoFlex style is fitted with a cushioning AirCell footbed. The footbed has been shaped and constructed with a velvet top sheet and a soft foam suited to the lighter pressures of a women’s build—the first time Blundstone has developed a women’s specific footbed.
The boot’s zoned footbed is designed to ventilate and dissipate moisture while you move. Pressured cells cushion and pump air around your arch and toes, where sweat tends to build up. Each footbed is anti-bacterial, breathable and washable.
Foot freedom
Along with Blundstone’s women’s specific styles, we have expanded the size ranges in selected unisex products to cater for female wearers who opt for slip-on or lace-up styles.
The composite range begins at a size three, equivalent to a woman’s six and the steel range begins at a size four, equivalent to a woman’s seven.
Blundstone believes that women should be entitled to all the same benefits afforded to men in the construction and trade industries. In releasing the four RotoFlex women’s specific styles Blundstone Australia demonstrates its commitment to the ever-growing female workforce.