The prototype of shoelaces can be traced back to the Mesopotamian civilization around 8000 BC, when humans used leather strips to bind animal skin soles to secure their feet. Ancient Egyptian murals show that soldiers in the New Kingdom period (around 1550 BC) had already adopted a cross-wound shoelace structure, a design that enhanced the stability of their combat boots by increasing friction. The "slip-on shoes" of the Han Dynasty in China were fixed with perforated hemp ropes, and the "double knot" tying method is regarded as the prototype of the modern bow.
After the Industrial Revolution, machine textile technology pushed the material of shoelaces from natural fibers to nylon and polyester fibers. The emergence of elastic shoelaces (in the 1960s) and reflective shoelaces (in the 1980s) further expanded the functional boundaries. Nowadays, smart shoelaces (such as Nike's Adapt BB automatic lacing system in 2019) mark the leap of shoelaces from "manual adjustment" to "smart adaptation".
