Shoes:

The Overlooked Tech.

The first shoes where made of leaves or bark.

Colder climates lead to shoes made of leather stitched on the top.

Romans invented sandals.

Shoes with a heel and a buckle.

Industrial Revolution

Modern materials like plastics and rubber changed shoes forever.

From work to working out

Dressing up or Lounging around

Shoes are Big Business.

Nike

• 6.1 Billion in the first quarter of 2011• Adding 500 to 600 million to better online sales• Increasing R&D budget in 2012

Modern Tec in Shoes

Foam-Blown PolyurethaneThermoplastic sole

Tightly woven leather/canvasGel or air pocket for cushioning

Cushioned heel collar

Manmade and natural fabrics

eyeletsRubberAgletsinsoles

and

Kevlar

Yes Kevlar!!!

•Tightly woven fabric

•Naturally water shedding

•Durable long lasting

Shoes are more than function

They are a statement of who you are.

Shoes tell the world who we are. (Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle points this out

many times in his books.)

Art that we ware on our feet, and

more often place in our closet.

The two most expensive pairs of shoes

#2 Solitary Kicks’ Nike Air

Force one. These shoes have a

Nike logo cast in solid gold.

Adorned in 50 carats of diamonds.

Priced at

$50,000

#1 most expensive shoes

Original Ruby slippers From “The Wizard of Oz” Adorned in 4,600

rubies. Trimmed in 50

carats of diamonds.

Priced at

$3,000,000

Now the question is

Are new shoes causing more injuries then they

prevent?

The book “Born to Run”• McDougall

encourages us to get back to basics .

• He comes to the conclusion that we are born to run and that shoes only weaken our ankles, arches, and joints.

• The best method is to run bare footed or in the cheapest thinnest soled shoes.

This school of thought has led to the minimalist

movement.Shoes that are rubber and fabric with little else. Some are even foot shaped.

What will the Future hold?