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The sneaker is a staple of the modern world. The

young and old have closets full of them. What
does it take to make a sneaker?

It takes an army of people. People to design,

develop, manufacture and deliver the sneakers to
you. From the hard work of designers, developers,
product managers, production teams, pattern
masters, stitchers and rubber pressers, here is
how it all comes together.

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 Available now:
How to Start Your Own Shoe Company
How Shoes are Made
Shoe Material Design Guide

Coming Fall 2018:

How to Make Footwear Patterns

W W W. SNE AK ERFAC TORY. NE T Dear Readers,

How Shoes are Made
This book was written to educate, inform, and in-
spire the next generation of shoe designers, shoe
Written and Edited by developers, shoemakers, and footwear
Wade and Andrea Motawi entrepreneurs! Our goal is to help prepare people
Copyright © Wade Motawi 2018 for fulfilling careers in the world of shoes!

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in
Enjoy!
any form or by any means, including photocopy-
ing, recording, or other electronic or mechanical
methods, without the prior written permission of
the publisher, except in the case of brief quota-
tions in critical reviews and other noncommercial Special thanks to:
use permitted by copyright law.
Andrea, Alex & Erik, Karim, Halla, Mom & Dad,
ask_a_shoe_dog@sneakerfactory.net Dave, Alfredo, Jason, David, Lizzie, Johnson,
Steve, Lenny, Bernie, Simon, Ben, Chad, The Mint
Any trademarks, service marks, trade names, Project.
trade dress, product names and logos that may
appear in this book are the property of their Thanks to all my working friends in the USA,
respective owners. SneakerFactory.net makes no China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Europe.
claims to any trademarks, service marks, trade
names, trade dress, product names and logos
that may appear in this book.

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WADE MOTAWI
iii
 HOW SHOES ARE MADE

CHAP TER 1 : THE SHOE DE S IGN PROCE S S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Two types of design briefs
Get started drawing shoes

CHAP TER 2 : FOOT W E AR S PECIFIC ATION DR AW INGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

How to make a factory ready specification drawing
What to include in a specification

CHAP TER 3 : M AK ING FOOT W E AR PAT TERN S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Shoe designer vs. pattern maker
The pattern maker’s challenge

CHAP TER 4 : SHOE S PECIFIC ATION DOCUMENT S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Parts of a shoe spec
How to detail a spec sheet

CHAP TER 5 : OUT SOLE TOOLING DE S IGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Footwear outsole types
Outsole blueprints and tooling development

CHAP TER 6 : FOOT W E AR DE VELOPMENT PROCE S S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Footwear sample making
Development samples phases

CHAP TER 7 : FOOT W E AR PRE- PRODUC TION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Production size grade
Production cutting equipment

CHAP TER 8 : SHOE M ATERI AL PREPAR ATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Material cutting
Logo printing and preparations

CHAP TER 9 : UPPER S TITCHING OPER ATION S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

The stitching room
Stitching order of operations

CHAP TER 10 : OUT SOLE RUB B ER PRE S S ING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Mixing rubber materials
Rubber molds and pressing

CHAP TER 11 : E VA MIDSOLE FORMING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

What EVA is made from
EVA pressing operations

CHAP TER 12 : THE SHOE A S S EMB LY LINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Cold cement shoe construction
Vulcanized shoe construction

CHAP TER 13 : THE SHOE L A S T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Shoe last shapes
How lasts are made

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 HOW SHOES ARE MADE

CHAP TER 14 : FOOT W E AR COS TING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Where does the money go?
Reading a factory cost sheet

CHAP TER 15 : LOGO DE S IGN FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

What is the right logo for your shoe?
Shoe logo constructions

CHAP TER 16 : LE ATHER FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Leather basics
Common leather for shoes

CHAP TER 17 : TE X TILE S FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Fabric weaves
Backing and surface treatments

CHAP TER 18 : S Y NTHE TIC S FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Synthetic types
Application on shoes

CHAP TER 19 : FOAM FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Foam types, open vs. closed
Foam compounds, densities, and use in shoes

CHAP TER 20 : K NOW YOUR FOOTB EDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Footbed parts
Material types for shoes

CHAP TER 21 : FOOT W E AR M ATERI AL SUPPLIER S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Working with material suppliers
List of top shoe material suppliers

CHAP TER 22 : SHOE DE S IGNER S TOOL S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

The Pantone™ color system
Common tools of the trade

CHAP TER 23 : JOB S IN THE SHOE TR ADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Getting started in the trades
There is a job for you

CHAP TER 24 : QUALIT Y CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

How to grade shoe quality
Standard shoe inspection procedure

CHAP TER 25 : LIFE AT A SHOE FAC TORY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Look inside a real factory
Working conditions

CHAP TER 26 : SHOE M AK ING DIC TIONARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Shoemaking terms you should know
Shoe parts diagram