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How to Start Your Own Shoe Company

How Shoes are Made
Shoe Material Design Guide

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How to Make Shoe Patterns

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

Shoe Material Design Guide
This book was written to educate, inform, and
inspire the next generation of shoe designers,
Written and Edited by shoe developers, shoemakers, and footwear
Wade and Andrea Motawi entrepreneurs! Our goal is to help prepare people
Copyright © Wade Motawi 2017 for fulfilling careers in the world of shoes!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted Enjoy!
in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or
mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations in critical reviews and other Special thanks to:
noncommercial 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
Any trademarks, service marks, trade names, Mint 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.
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that may appear in this book.
Shoe
Material
Design
Guide
WADE MOTAWI
 SHOE MATERIAL DESIGN GUIDE

CHAP TER 1 : LE ATHER FOR FOOT W E AR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

How leather is made and how to use leather in your shoe designs.

CHAP TER 2 : TE X TILE S FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Fabric options for footwear.

CHAP TER 3 : S Y NTHE TIC S FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Man-made materials for the modern shoe.

CHAP TER 4 : SHOE S TITCHING THRE AD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Thread and stitching hold it all together.

CHAP TER 5 : FOOT W E AR RE INFORCEMENT S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

How to create, support, and fix the shape of shoes.

CHAP TER 6 : SHOEL ACE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Options for shoe closure systems.

CHAP TER 7 : SHOE GLUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

The use and application of adhesives in shoes.

CHAP TER 8 : HARDWARE FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Metal and plastic parts for shoes.

CHAP TER 9 : LOGO APPLIC ATION S FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Techniques for branding shoes.

CHAP TER 10 : FOAM FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

How to specify foam.

CHAP TER 11 : MIDSOLE CUSHIONING S YS TEM S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

A review of 14 different midsole types.

CHAP TER 12 : OUT SOLE S FOR FOOT W E AR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

A study of eight different outsole constructions.

CHAP TER 13 : WATERPROOF CON S TRUC TION S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

An overview of waterproof construction techniques.

CHAP TER 14 : FOOTB EDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Picking the right footbed, ten options to study.
 SHOE MATERIAL DESIGN GUIDE
CHAP TER 15 : W EB B ING FOR SHOE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Options and uses of webbing.

CHAP TER 16 : PL A S TIC PART S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

A quick study of plastic molding for shoe parts.

CHAP TER 17 : PACK ING BOXE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

How to design and specify packing materials for shoes.

CHAP TER 18 : SHOE M ATERI AL S PECIFIC ATION S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

How to create a footwear specification.

CHAP TER 19 : SHOE M ATERI AL TE S TING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Testing requirements for shoe and shoe materials.

CHAP TER 20 : LOC AL M ARK E T SHOE M ATERI AL S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using locally available stock materials.

CHAP TER 21 : M ATERI AL VENDOR REL ATION S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

How to get the most from your material vendors.

CHAP TER 22 : M ATERI AL COS TING AND CON SUMP TION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
How to calculate the cost of shoe components.

CHAP TER 23 : SHOE M ATERI AL SUPPLY CHA IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

The challenges of sourcing footwear materials.

CHAP TER 24 : E XOTIC AND ILLEGAL M ATERI AL S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

How to know if rare materials are safe and legal to use.

CHAP TER 25 : BUILDING A SHOE M ATERI AL LIB R ARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Tips and techniques for collecting material swatch books.

CHAP TER 26 : SUS TA INAB LE SHOE PRODUC TION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

How to reduce the environmental impact of your shoes.

CHAP TER 27 : SHOE DI S S EC TION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Cross section views of popular shoe styles.

CHAP TER 28 : SHOE M ATERI AL VENDOR LI S T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Where to find top quality shoe materials.