Sizing Is The Most Valuable Guide To Footwear Design & Development
The effective inner space that decides the sizing of the footwear, tells us along every decision making stages of Footwear Design, about what we can do and what we cannot while achieving our conceptual form.
By Pavitra Kumar Sen
Sizing Is The Most Valuable Guide To Footwear Design & Development in Accomplishing the Initial Conceptual Idea, which is our eventual goal. Footwear Sizing is a combination of various aspects of Shoe Making when it comes to initiating the Prototype Development after the Conceptualization process. Like –
- Understanding Foot Anatomy
- Basic foot measurements
- The construction we are going to make the footwear with
- The material to be used
Footwear Designing has two main sections:
Creative Design → Technical Design
After the Concept Formation it is the Technical Design part that brings the idea into life.
Technical Designing starts with a Last. To have an appropriate last → we need to keep Foot Anatomy in mind → with some basic and advanced stages of measurements that decide the Fitting of the product → which are again decided by the Construction → and materials to be used.
This may sound confusing, as,” why would someone consider Material or even construction for that matter while applying a size stamp on the product” ?
So, here I am talking about the Sizing, “a comfortable yet fit space inside the footwear keeping its aesthetic and commercial aspects in place”, but not the various Metric Systems and the increment or decrement of the sizes we follow.
And so, it is about the size as a guide on what, as a Designer, we can or cannot do to reach to the final form of the product as per the Initial Sketch.
Since Shoe sizing is bit more complex than the sizing system we use in apparel, a footwear manufacturer (the design team to be particular) should keep the following things in consideration while initiating the technical designing :
“From Initial concept plan to the Final Product in Footwear Design, Sizing, which mean the Inner Space that provides the most important aspect of Feet Protection Through Comfort, Guides secretly to a well designed, comfortable Product”
Understanding Foot Anatomy
Understanding Foot Anatomy – After the initial idea generation, a short study of the Foot Anatomy would help us to decide about the last.
Foot Anatomy in this discussion mean the Basic Structure of our foot. How we plan to dress our feet considering this particular look we are going to make. Will it be higher on ankle, a snug fit product or having a reasonably comfortable space inside, amount of growth allowance to be added to the foot length (keeping the toe shape in mind) which may eventually change the size stamp and so on.
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Basic foot measurements
Basic Foot Measurements – This will again bring us back to the initial concept – What we intend to make?
Accordingly various measurements like – What will different girth measurements be like, Toe Spring as per the construction or category, Toe Depth as per again its functionality like Formal, Casual or Sports inspired product, Different Heel Girths, long or short, Last Cone Length, if its not formal etc..
The construction we are going to make the footwear with
The construction – This is the way we assemble the bottom part with the upper part of the footwear.
If it is a stitched, Tubular or machine sewn assemble process, we get some extra margin to play with, only if the material is not stiff (for example Industrial Footwear).
How it is going to impact the sizing of the footwear? – Well the construction decides how much margin we have to play around with, Toe Spring of the product (which is an essential element in the usage of the product), Some improvisations around the feather edge and on overall dimensions of the last.
The material to be used
Material(s) to be used on the final product – Although a last shape majorly depends upon the ready made sole to be used on the product, material selection would suggest, what size the final product is going to wear.
If we seek to have a semi formal product on the display we may choose materials for upper and lining on the same line. But on the same sole if we decide to make a sports inspired product, the inner space may change according to the lining and upper materials we decide to use.
For example on a platform sole if we conceptualize a sports inspired design, we may use a cushion padded lining material, which will then minimize the inner space of the footwear and so its foot accommodation ability is going to be different from the regular semi-formal product.
So to sum up, the effective inner space that decides the sizing of the footwear tells us on every decision making stages of footwear design, about what we can do and what we cannot while achieving our conceptual form. So Sizing Is The Most Valuable Guide To Footwear Design and accomplishing our ultimate creative goal.