Sole component for an article of footwear and method for making same

A method of manufacturing an article of footwear comprising:

• providing a mold having first and second mold parts;
• closing the first and second mold parts to cooperatively define a mold cavity having the exterior shape of a sole component including:
• a line of reduced thickness, and
• a contoured toe cover angled downwardly about the line of reduced thickness;
• injecting a sole forming material into the mold cavity to form a molded sole component;
• removing the molded sole component from the mold;
• and
• joining the molded sole component to an upper including a toe portion, wherein joining the molded sole component to the upper includes rotating the toe cover upwardly about the line of reduced thickness to extend over and mate with the toe portion of the upper.

A method of manufacturing an article of footwear comprising:

• providing a mold having first and second mold parts;
• closing the first and second mold parts to cooperatively define a mold cavity having the exterior shape of a sole component including:
• a base,
• an articulation joint extending at least partially across the base, and
• a toe cover adjacent the articulation joint;
• injecting a sole forming material into the mold cavity to form a molded sole component;
• removing the molded sole component from the mold;
• and
• rotating the toe cover upwardly about the articulation joint to a closed configuration, wherein the toe cover would have created an undercut with respect to the mold parts had the sole component been molded with the toe cover in the closed configuration.