3D printed footwear may be a hot new trend for fashionista but are they practical for the everyday shoe buyers?

3D printed footwear may be a hot new trend for fashionistas but are they practical for the everyday shoe buyers? 

In a article authored by David Sher he states that custom 3D printed shoes are now taking on momentum, going from an experimental novelty to something truly accessible. Especially with new announcements from such start-ups as Feetz and3D Shoes.

Further fueling the tailored shoe market is 3D Shoes, which is more focused on building a huge database of 3D scans of feet to be used with different manufacturing options. Through the 3D Shoes App, all you have to do is take a series of photographs of your feet from different positions. You then upload them into the 3D Shoes e-commerce platform to be able to purchase perfectly fitting shoes. 3D Shoes already integrates several different products, including both Feetz shoes and Wiivv custom insoles.

The online shop also offers a specific $5.000 foot 3D scanner, for those who intend to offer the service professionally, and will be using more advanced $25.000 systems to 3D scan people’s feet for free in participating schools and companies throughout Europe and the US of more than 1.000 employees and/or students, in order to build up their database.

If you know of a school or company with over 1.000 students or employees, or even two companies/schools in close proximity, that range from 200 to 500 in size, 3D Shoes will supply a scan for collecting the data of every one of those feet.  And, connected to such products as those offered by Feetz and Wiivv, the beginnings of a world of custom footwear is slowly being established.  It is not something that will happen overnight, but having a custom made shoe will soon be, once again, absolutely “normal”.

The Changing Fashion Landscape

According to the innovative software Company Lectra the Fashion ecosystem is changing fast. The fashion industry is predicted to change as much in the next ten years as it has over the last 100. Consolidation, computerization and globalization are the major disruptions of today, and will continue to be as they morph and change. Fashion designers are at the forefront of these disruptions. The distinctions between Brands, Retailers and Manufacturers that have defined fashion for the last several decades are now being tested by a multitude of factors, including a difficult economic context and changing consumer desires. Emerging hybrid models are changing the landscape of the Fashion’s business and helping companies thrive in a world of growing complexity.

Social and economic changes have transformed the way fashion is designed, developed, produced and consumed. To keep up with ever-changing challenges, expanding markets and to build a better product, companies need to adapt how they work. Global Fashion Technology Federation. org is the place that Fashion businesses can get the education, technologies and information that will help them achieve that competitive advantages they are seeking. To learn more Global Fashion Technology Federation.org