Forbes_Shoot Yourself in the Foot (January 7)

07.01.2008

You’ve always wanted custom-made shoes, but, at $4,500 for a pair from John Lobb, they were just beyond your budget. The Left Foot Co. of Finland is changing that, with made-to-measure men’s shoes that start at $300, about the same as off-the-shelf shoes by Bruno Magli or John Varvatos.

At Left Foot’s showrooms (ten and counting in Europe and Asia, with plans afoot for the U.S.), you don checkerboard-striped socks in Day-Glo green and yellow, and stand on a platform while a revolving camera takes digitized pictures of your feet. Then you browse 350 styles of dress and casual shoes in the store or over the Web. Place your order and, zip-zip, your measurements are transmitted to Left Foot’s factory in Estonia, where the leather is stretched and cut by a computercontrolled knife and then hand-stitched. Three weeks later the shoes show up at your door, with your name or a special message embossed inside. Your measurements stay on file, so you can order another pair without leaving home.

Yrjö Neuvo, former chief technical officer of Nokia, owns ten pairs of Left Foot shoes. “I’m rather tall,” he says, “and there’s no other place where I can go and see over 300 styles that will fit my feet. It also makes a very nice gift to participants at business meetings. The process works really well.”

http://www.forbes.com/technology/forbes/2008/0107/042.html