Are your shoes build to accept you?, Learn the truth.

If the shoe fits wear it?

Before 1970 shoes were, with few exceptions, nationally manufactured. Globalization changed the shoe supply. Even high quality and luxury shoes are (partially) made in China, india or Korea.


You and me feel those effects! Good looking shoes for rock-bottom prices. The Wall Marts and the bigger shoe stores of the world are full of them. Lesser known is the fact that your legs and feet feel the difference too!.

A simple shoe

Basic shoes are simple items. Leather or fabric stitched to form a top, a innersole with thermal isolation and a rubbery sole glued to the innersole. A few stitches to add to the glue, some laces and we have a shoe! An average shoe does not need a lot of technology to be made. The 80%/20% rule is in full effect, most shoes are basic standardized footwear bought by the thousands.

The 20% fraction of shoes available are usually thoroughly researched tested products with quality guarantees. Their price differ from the standard shoes. These shoes are usually exclusively branded.

The standard shoe

Around 1960 the mould and measurements of the standard European or western shoe and feet sizes was exported to china to begin production. Most of the 2009/2010 shoe production are still using these standards, with a minor difference. Modern shoe production takes place in “non-branded” factories, rentable for single or multiple high volume production runs.

One single digital shoe design is specified, adapted to the machinery, digitally shrunk or sized up to match the different sizes. Materials are specified, cost negotiated and 5 months later 50.000 pairs of shoes arrive in a warehouse and are distributed to the points of sale.

Production

In the mean time production technology and supply technology has changed . Modern production technology allows different materials to replace classic materials. For instance rubber is often replaced with a polymer sole cuttings. Each individual shoe-soles used to be moulded in special forms . Today sheets of shoe soles-imprints arrive at the factory and the right size shoe sole is cut out of that sheet material. Some mould types of shoe soles still are used, these are made from thermoplastics for cost reduction.

Modern production technology does not have to be the source of quality problems.

Cheap labour and modern technology reduce costs. Less waste and thinner materials can be used to archive similar quality goals. Cost reductions themselves are often well researched and will not compromise quality.

Where is the difference?

The difference lies in us, the people, we have outgrown the used standards. After the western shoe standards were used in mass production in China the Chinese more or less adapted those standards for their own shoe production. These standards were originally designed in the first world war and updated around second world war. These were military apparel standards that were adapted for civil use.These standards have seen few changes based most of them based on the growth of the Chinese people. We have changed quite a bit more. Western people have grown faster than Chinese people(*1). And we have gained a lot more weight.

Big and Tall

Big and tall people should notice this faster than thin people. Its easy to see how overweight people would induce more force on their shoes than thin people. Less obvious is the fact that tall people also exercise more force on their shoes. A tall person makes longer strides. The energy released within the shoe is higher as well, as they take fewer steps over a similar distance, increasing the energy per step.

Conclusion

• Shoes, especially the soles and shoe to sole connection are not build strong enough to carry the westerner!
• Manufactures and sales will not complain, they just sell more.
• You will have to learn to recognize good shoes.

Source : 1. "Global Height Trends in Industrial and Developing Countries, 1810-1984: An Overview "