An article of footwear, a method for manufacturing said article and an apparatus used for manufacturing said article

An article of footwear comprising:

• a sole part manufactured of a polymer by molding or casting;
• and
• at least one strap anchor connected to the sole part via an anchor pillar,
• wherein the anchor pillar is manufactured in conjunction with the molding or casting of the sole part.

A method of manufacturing a footwear part including a sole part, the method comprising:

• providing a mold for the footwear part;
• providing a mold closing unit;
• providing at least one strap anchor;
• releasably placing the at least one strap anchor in a strap anchor fixture;
• positioning the mold and the mold closing unit in relative operative positions for forming a mold cavity for molding the footwear part;
• molding the footwear part by molding material, whereby part of the molding material reaches and engages the at least one strap anchor;
• and
• opening the mold and removing the at least one strap anchor from the strap anchor fixture, when the molding material is at least partly cured, whereby a molded footwear part is provided with the at least one strap anchor attached.

An apparatus for manufacturing a footwear part including a sole part, the apparatus comprising:

• a mold;
• and
• a mold closing unit,
• wherein a side mold of the mold or the mold closing unit is configured with:
• at least one strap anchor fixture for releasably holding at least one strap anchor, and
• one or more canals for leading molding material from a mold cavity to at least a lower part of the at least one strap anchor.