Why This Olympian Started Azza, a New Fencing Shoe Brand

Starting a shoe brand wasn’t always the goal for Azza Besbes. But when the Tunisian Olympic fencer decided to leave the sport in 2020, she wondered how her experience might be useful in improving the game for the next generation of athletes.

“My body was quite destroyed because of the bad fencing shoes that we had,” Besbes, a three-time Olympian and silver medalist, told FN in an interview, explaining how she never felt that the fencing shoes on the market offered enough durability, cushioning or balance to withstand intense practice and competition. By the end of her athletic career, Besbes was wearing tennis and badminton shoes instead, which were also not ideal.

“Why do marathon people run with proper running shoes, or sprinters or basketball [players]?,” Besbes said. “Everyone has the proper shoes for their sports.

We should have the same for fencing.”

In 2020, that realization led Besbes and her husband, who works in oil and gas construction, to start the research and development phase of what would become Azza, a new by-fencers-for-fencers footwear brand.

The shoe’s design centered on four key technical elements: cushioning, balance, grip and durability. These features were necessary to create a shoe that could withstand the unique movements in fencing, like sudden lunges, as well as the abrasive metallic strip on which the sport is played.

After two and half years of development — and consistent feedback and wear-testing from professional fencers — Azza launched its first prototype in 2022: a fencing shoe with a thicker sole designed for two of the sport’s three weapon classes, foil and épée.

Azza is currently developing a thinner soled shoe for sabre (Besbes’ weapon), though the athlete herself prefers the thicker original model for her own needs.

“It was bold for us to try to compete and enter the market,” Besbes said. “But a good product can only come from someone who really was in the field and who knows what they need exactly and who knows the fencers to go to talk to.”