Shoes and tyres: Michelin partners with Alizé Cornet

Feet and wheels share the common function of helping us move about, and it shouldn’t then be surprising that tyre makers are interested in both. Continental has supplied Adidas with its rubber compounds for a number of years now, and Hankook recently shared news of its partnership with Vibram. Michelin also offers shoes as part of its Michelin Lifestyle range, and now it is taking the business a step further. The tyre maker is extending its 12 year old sports equiment partnership with Babolat and will team up with French tennis player Alizé Cornet for what it says is “a first in the tennis industry.”

Speaking about the partnership, Christian Delhaye, managing director of Michelin Lifestyle, said: “Competitive sports are the ultimate testbed for innovation and have been part of Michelin’s history and development processes across all the Group’s activities, including Michelin Lifestyle. The skills partnership agreement we have signed with Alizé Cornet, a professional tennis player on the WTA circuit and a member of the French Fed Cup team, is a natural fit for Michelin. The aim of our partnership is to highlight the performance of tennis shoe outsoles in order to design new models.”

The partnership’s goals are equally important for Babolat. “For the past 140 years, Babolat has innovated continuously by observing the game of tennis and analysing how racket sports players move on the court,” commented Jean-Christophe Verborg, Babolat’s international sports marketing director. “Our Pro Team players play at the highest level of the sport, and therefore represent an integral part in the development of our products. We draw on their experience and our expertise to design products perfectly tailored to the needs of tennis players. We are thrilled that our partner Michelin will be joining forces with a Babolat tennis player who is also an ambassador for our footwear. This partnership will bring Michelin even closer to the game in order to gain a greater understanding of players’ requirements.”

Alizé Cornet will wear Babolat’s flagship tennis shoe, the Propulse BPM. Michelin describes the shoe’s “highly innovative” design: “During a tennis match, players either move sideways or diagonally 80 per cent of the time and tend to put their weight on the front of their feet. Babolat and Michelin closely observed and analysed the movements of tennis players to develop the first tennis-only shoe back in 2003. Babolat forged an exclusive partnership with tyre specialist Michelin to combine their expertise and meet the specific requirements of tennis players. This resulted in the design of a unique high-performance outsole.”

According to Michelin, the parallels between a car travelling efficiently and safely and a high-performance tennis player on the court have united it and Babolat in their “quest for innovation”:
Noting that moving forward, stopping abruptly, jumping, landing back on the ground and sprinting are all movements that require precision and efficiency, the tyre maker shares: “Inspired by rally tyres, Michelin’s outsoles feature exclusive rubber compounds and a tread design developed by Michelin especially for Babolat. Major breakthroughs have been achieved in terms of grip and resistance to abrasion, thereby improving durability. Alizé Cornet’s Babolat Propulse BPM shoes feature the very latest in outsole design with the Michelin OCS2 outsole.”