What is Matryx®?
Matryx® is a new, high-performance fabric that is incredibly lightweight, abrasion resistant, breathable, comfortable and provides excellent support. This makes Matryx® an outstanding fabric for use in athletic applications like personal protection equipment and especially footwear including sports like soccer/futsal, tennis/padel, and especially road and trail running.
Matryx® is produced by Chamatex Group in the Ardèche region of France.
How does Matryx® work?
Construction
Matryx® is made of individually coated polyamide and Kevlar® yarns. This process increases breathability (up to 200g/m²) by allowing perspiration vapor to escape, which means your feet remain dry for maximum comfort.
Matryx® is also highly customizable so that specific needs can be achieved by playing with yarn, construction, and density. For instance, reflective yarn can be added to increase visibility, or Matryx® can be woven using a jacquard machine to impart different designs, shapes or colors to the fabric.
Sustainability
Another benefit of Matryx® is that the production process uses less water. Color is added by dyeing the yarns rather than the fabric, which results in 50% less water usage. When the desired color is black, a process called dope dyeing can be used which uses 95% less water!
In addition, Chamatex Group is working towards replacing the yarn’s PU coating with a high tenacity, recycled polyester resin which will meet the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).
Fabric and shoes made in France
Matryx® is produced by Chamatex Group in the Ardèche region of France. Moreover, the yarn production, weaving and finishing facilities, as well as an R&D finishing lab are all located within an 80km radius of each other. This results in increased synergy between processes, reduced environmental impact, and lower shipping costs.
In September 2021, Chamatex Group opened an all-new subsidiary, the ASF 4.0 shoe factory, which produced 15,000 pairs of shoes by the end of the year. By utilizing the expertise of technology giant Siemens, this state-of-the-art factory features a remarkably high level of automation and is expected to produce 500,000 pairs of shoes per year in the very near future.
ASF 4.0 is also located in the beautiful Ardèche region, an area which has a solid history of producing high-quality footwear.
How is Matryx® used in Salomon products?
Salomon’s commitment to innovation and producing the most cutting-edge products available means that runners can expect to see both the first running shoes featuring Matryx® in 2022. Stay tuned!
To find all the latest product information check out our Stories and Guides pages.