Matters Of The Sole

Bespoke footwear is an art which can only be created by proven masters of the craft

- Abhishek Kumar Verma

What you like is what you wear and if it is a well-crafted pair of shoes made specially for you, it sure spells ultimate comfort. You need nothing better and you are all set to take on the world. It would be worthwhile to understand that designing customised shoes is a knowledge-intensive process. One of the crucial points in modern shoe manufacturing lies in shoe design, a determining factor in selling best fitting or custom-made shoes.

It starts with the measurement of a foot. To ensure a best fit, measurements are taken at strategic locations and the shoemaker uses both linear as well as volume measurement to construct a shoe last. They take the measurement of Throat opening, Length, Foot Girth, Ball Girth, Waist Girth, Instep Girth, Heel girth, Recede Toe, Heel to ball, Toe spring, Tread, Flare. However, in order to save time and achieve perfection, digital scanners are used nowadays to take the measurement of the foot. Three-dimensional (3D) scanning cameras, such as Microsoft’s Kinect, are used to take images of an object. A shoemaker will then use that data to create a Shoe Last. The fit of a shoe depends on the design, shape and volume of the Shoe Last. The Shoe Last must represent the anatomical information of the foot, at the same time giving the finished shoe a pleasing and fashionable appearance.

The next stage is the selection and finalising the toe shape of the shoe. In case of men, some of the common toe shapes are the Snip toe, Square toe, Round Toe, D-toe, J-Toe, R-toe, W-Toe, U toe, Roper, and others.

With respect to footwear for women, the heel height needs to be selected along with the foot toe, given that it is on the basis on this that the Shoe Last is made. The most common shoe toes for women are the Peep Toe, Pointed Toe, and Round Toe.