I thought that subject heading might catch a few eyes.
You all know that I’m not a shoe designer, and I don’t even buy that many shoes or boots in a year. But my wife is a shoe-horse. Casuals and dress (for work), but in particular she is an aerobic-shoe “expert-user” having been hopping and leaping around the house and various gyms since early on in the “Dancer-cize” era; circa 1980. I can’t even begin to guess how much she’s spent on shoes in the last 20 years, but I’m guessing it would easily pay for the new BMW S1000RR that I’ve been lusting after.
This past weekend she was furiously banging around the house trying to dig up an old pair of “usable” workout shoes because she could not find anything new that was worth buying (in her expert-user opinion). “They don’t know how these shoes are worn, I can’t lace them up tight enough, they don’t know how fast they break down (she’s all of 125 pound soaking wet, and will blow out a pair of shoes in 2-3 months), and they can’t seem to figure out how to design them so they stay on my feet … Dear.” I’m not sure what she meant by the “Dear” comment (like I’m supposed to do something about it? Or possibly that I was being notified that I was not the target of her diatribe)
So I thought I’d ask you guys … aside from the material/process aspects of the field, and the “design mechanics” of documentation (sketching/rendering/CAD), what does qualify you do design shoes? Do you have any training in human anatomy, myology, or orthopedics? Do you work closely with podiatrists for example, or observe athletes during the course of their activities? It isn’t all just “fashion sense”, is it?
You know me, this is not at all intended as a flamer, I’m just curious … Maybe if I can explain it to Sweetness she’ll get off my case and I can get back to the serious business of lusting after that motorcycle… .