Patent ID: 7568298

Claim:
A shoe comprising an upper, the upper comprising: an upper sole junction and a throat; a three dimensional fabric including a sole attachment side, a throat side, a back facing side, a body, and a top facing side; the body of the three dimensional fabric including a plurality of channels formed between the back facing side and the top facing side in at least a portion of the body of the three dimensional fabric; at least one loop, the at least one loop including a bottom section towards the upper sole junction and a top section opposite the bottom section towards the throat; at least a portion of the at least one loop residing in at least one of the plurality of channels; and at least one lace operatively associated with the at least one loop proximate the top section of the at least one loop, wherein the at least one loop distributes a tightening force across at least a portion of the upper when tightening the at least one lace.