If The Shoe Fits ... the performance is better

Currently, there is a silent problem facing the footwear industry: the shoes, essentially, do not work. There has not been a true advancement in the construction of footwear in more than a century, leaving today's shoe an almost exact replica, in architectural principles, of the Victorian shoe. What we have created is a fundamental change: our shoe, what we call Adaptive FIT footware, is novel in its process of design, method of construction and model of distribution.

The shoe market is mature. As true as this is for dress and casual footwear, it is even more so for the athletic shoe. Marketing in this specific field is becoming evermore competitive, with many of the shoe manufacturers seen amalgamating: the likely aim being a-build on the complex logistic models and a bettering of the team mix. Perhaps it suits our own direction and purpose, but we can see a growing trend, where both the minor and major manufacturers are moving into the market for adaptability. We feel they are beginning to understand the limitations of the current footwear paradigm. What we will do is introduce a necessary competitive advantage -- which is needed if a company wants to challenge 'the way of things', in this ever-growing industry. Right now it is an industry where growth is usually recognized by only incremental rises in market share, due to no single company having a distinctive and clearly competitive advantage over another. But in business, as in life, the steady state is not, in the long run, sustainable.

Why the standard product is not working
Our target market, in terms of size, is highlighted by the $16.3 billion the US footwear market grossed in 2005. In the areas of the sport, dress and work shoe there is growing demand for a shoe that will perform well. Consumers understand the importance of possessing good shoes, and will often do a variety of things to alter their existing footwear to optimize the level of comfort they can achieve.

Current shoes can neither stop the impact forces, nor distribute them. Research has shown that this force is the cause for a multitude of problems: bone spurs, bunions, inflamed arthritis, lower back pain, collapsed arches, bad posture, etc. Most of our foot strikes are suffered through, at one level or another. The new shoe will correct what has become an overly learned pattern by its mechanical and adapting behavior.

The number of horizontal industries associated with all of the ill-fitting and ill-working shoes is nearly immeasurable. From anti-inflammatory pills to specialized orthotics, ointments to foot beds, hot-rubs to the bespoke product, there are as many ways to customize shoes as there are people who wear them. Relationships between the-ineffective-footwear and abnormal biomechanics are actually, even to this day, not clear, but it is known that the modern shoe has this visible relationship with many of an individual's general health-related problems, from their sore backs, right on down. Because there is no real, or direct, way to compare footwear with any alternative to the common shoe, there are few, if any, realistic connections that can be made between shoes that are not made according to principles -- and the biomechanical problems that are real. The complaints remain anecdotal so far and cannot yet be scientifically backed-up.

What is most apparent is the unwelcome inefficiency that most shoes have. Yet, at exactly the same time, it seems obvious that little can be done to correct their condition. It is when wearing the usual shoes that a wide range of damaging effects occurs -- although the pain is never truly recognized as stemming from your shoes. The new footware technology is about changing the relationship with shoes. How the individual will adapt to the ground underfoot is a part of it, and how each shoe will be responding to their user -- while adaptation is going on -- is another part of it. The work will always be equally shared between the person and their footware. For us, it is the new intimacy in the connection that is the reason why a majority of footwear problems should be alleviated.

What we offfer
It may be outrageous, but we, a small company from Vancouver, Canada question the very approach that the whole shoe industry is taking. The new component-designs we offer will cause a shift in the understanding, construction and operation of shoes, and it all comes down to how the last is used. No longer is it needed in its current form -- and when it is used in the assembly process? It will have been changed beyond measure, not at all recognizable even as a last. The last we know is gone, along with all the problems associated with the glue factory complex, replaced by proprietary systems.

All footwear is made vulnerable because 1) the lasts they are made on do not reflect the foot, and 2) the end product, from the customer's point of view, does not, ever, do enough. These are very real problems that manufacturers could address with a better product.

The value to both the manufacturer and the consumer is based on our ability to fix the conundrum that faces the footwear industry: how do you optimize shock attrition, or cushioning, without loosing control or mobility? (in essence this refers to how one can feel the ground and then respond to it.) Currently, if you increase shock attrition you lose some control, and if you have increased control, you lose some shock attrition. Our company's strongest value stems directly from being able to solve a problem that is usually resolved with a huge compromise. Adaptive FIT can optimize the shoe's response level with superior elements of control and comfort, while delivering a greater level of assurance for your every movement. The feet are too important to be compromised.

Our shoe does this: it works off the body's natural motor control by introducing fluidity in the nature of the shoe's architecture. In essence, current shoes are constructed to only allow for a limited degree of foot action. Conversely, our shoe is a piece of equipment where the body's natural movements and range of motion are not hindered, but carried out and realized without any obstruction by this 'new type of interfacing'. With a product of this nature, the usual constraints and problems, at a number of levels, are not likely to occur.

Adaptive FIT has its place in this market due to what it is bringing to the table. No other shoe out there can match the proposed capability or offer the same benefits. We are attempting to solve the real pain problems that are connected with the wearing of shoes

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