The shoes and boots on your feet have been through a long journey and I’m not talking about how much you have walked in them either. Every shoe and boot starts off about the same way on a shoe designer’s drawing board. Shoe designers are always looking for inspiration if they are to continue making and creating new shoe and boot styles.

Often times shoe and boot designers may go to the European cities for inspiration. It’s important to get into different surrounding so the mind gets fresh ideas for new shoes and boots. If you just sit in a design studio all day you’ll end up with something similar to "Writer’s Block" where you just can’t seem to get your act going.

Next comes getting those sketches into workable drawings for approval from the shoe design manager. He or she is the person who is the line manager who knows which way the shoe and boot company line is going style wise. Once all the designs have been chosen, they are sent to a shoe sample factory whose job does nothing but make one off shoes for final approval. Those shoe samples are shipped back via fedex or ups next day air for either approval or slight design changes. Perhaps a line or stitching needs to moved or maybe a sneaker color needs to changed to something else. Whatever the reason. Now is the time that take care of the final design specifications.

The most important part next for the shoe manufacturer is the marketing part. The shoe company has to take as many future orders as it can from their sales department team. This is done through many shoe trade shows and plain ol’ beating the pavement from the salesmen. During this time the shoe manufacturer will be figuring out how many shoes and boots they need to make from the shoe factory which is done in a contract.

Let’s say the team is making penny loafers in three colors: black,brown and cordovan. The shoe manufacturer has a factory that is willing and able to fill the contract to shoe manufacturers specs. That factory may or may not be owned by the shoe company. Once the contract is filled and the shoes are spot inspected and deemed fine, They are packed and shipped to the States which usually takes about a month across the Pacific.

They usually hit the west coast and are picked up the shoe manufacturer who then trucks them to their warehouse for distribution to the shoe stores or to online stores such as Shoes and Boots Now. It is the job next of the shoe store or websites to market their products so they make it onto the the feet of the consumer.

By aaron sarfati Published: 1/17/2009