Fit complaints are almost never about length
A shoe can measure correctly and still feel wrong. Nearly every time, the last is the reason.
When a shoe comes back with a fit complaint, the instinct is to check the size chart. It is almost never the size chart.
It is the volume of the last — the space inside the shoe rather than its length. A last developed for one market and relabelled for another gives you a shoe that measures right and feels tight across the forefoot or loose through the instep.
What we do instead
- We keep separate base lasts rather than converting one set into another
- We will build a last from a shoe you already sell and are happy with
- The last stays here, stored, and is used for nothing else
- Fit changes are written down with photographs, so nobody argues about them later
By the third sample the conversation is usually about millimetres. That is the point at which you have a shoe worth making.
Written by the Lab Multi team. For press enquiries or to speak to the people behind this work, contact info@labmulti.com.
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