How Walking Shoes Are Made

For centuries shoes have been designed and made from the inside out. Almost all footwear is still made on lasts, a form used to shape a particular shoe style and size around the form of a human foot and ankle. A cordwainer (or cordovan) is the term of art for somebody who makes shoes from fine soft leather by stretching and shaping material around the last, which is not removed until the sole is attached. Top fashion shoe designers like Manolo Blahnik still painstakingly carve lasts from wood.

Athletic shoe manufacturers design walking shoe lasts on computers and shape them on numerically controlled lathes and milling machines. Anatomists, biomechanical engineers, and the athletes who use the shoes provide the input to model the effect of even the most minute variations in toe shape, heel curve and toe spring. 3D computers model the thickness and composition of different combinations of uppers, lowers, interiors and soles on the lasts until the designers achieve exactly the desired specifications for that model walking shoe. All walking shoes are purpose made but not all walking shoes are created equal. Saucony is very good at providing consumer information. The Saucony Shoe Advisor can recommend a specific model based on your foot type and objectives.