Whether at work or strolling along a beachfront promenade, while playing sports or on the catwalk — hardly anything plays such a pivotal role in our everyday lives as our footwear. The range of functional footwear is simply enormous, and there is one material, invented almost exactly 100 years ago by the chemist Fritz Hofmann, which can ensure a more comfortable fit, a better look, increased safety, or an increased resistance to wear: synthetic rubber. Hofmann’s research laid the foundations for a wide range of innovations in the field of rubber — including those for today’s shoe industry.

You might say he “paved” the way back then for a simple and fashionable summer accessory worn today on almost every street in the world. Its name is inspired by the rhythmic sound it makes when worn by people on the go, a name that trips off the tongue wherever you are on the planet: the “flip-flop”.

“Flip-flops are simply one of the most amazing fashion items,” says Martin Mezger, a rubber expert at LANXESS. “They are comfortable, as identifiable with summer as the sun itself, and they don’t cost much, so you can own a matching pair for every outfit in your wardrobe.” What’s more, they often are made of synthetic rubber from LANXESS — for example the Brazilian Havaianas, with no fewer than 2.3 billion pairs having made their way into the world of fashion since 1962. And this number is increasing by 160 million every year.