A systematic approach for developing a foot size information system for shoe last design

The property of a shoe last design significantly impacts the fitness of the shoes thus produced. Traditionally, a shoe last is designed by using numer ous foot measure data. Among all the items of foot measure information, the foot length and joint girth are further identified as principle factors af fecting shoe last design. In this paper, foot length and joint girth are an alyzed by using a bi-variate normal distribution to obtain a more efficient foot size grading system. A set of 2486 adult male samples collected in Ta iwan area are used in this analysis to establish the norm for the foot leng th and joint girth. A foot size information system (FSIS) providing shoe la st related information such as the percentage of population that a last can fit in is established from the analysis results. This study contributes de signers the grading information that is helpful for shoe last design. Relevance to industry Shoe last design is the basis for footwear design. The foot size informatio n system derived in this paper provides shoe making industry with a more ef ficient and economical size grading system to design shoe lasts. This gradi ng system also promotes customer satisfaction with better fitness in foot s ize. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.