Vibram is a story driven by tragedy. In 1935, two mountaineers lost their lives in the Italian Alps, partly due to inadequate footwear. Vitale Bramani, a friend of the passed mountaineers, made the creation of a better sole his passion due to this tragedy. Two years after the accident, Bramani patented a rubber sole with a special tread design called the Carrarmato. The sole was designed for traction, abrasion resistance and was crafted of the latest vulcanized rubber.

In 1954, wearing Vibram rubber soles on their boots, and Italian expedition was the first to scale the summit of K2.

Today, Vibram has made themselves very well known particularly in the outdoors and mountaineering communities. Over 1000 footwear manufactures use Vibram soles as well as many of the current military boot designs.