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Sizing and lasts for export footwear programmes
A size run is a grading decision made once on the last, and getting it wrong shows up as returns rather than as complaints.
A last is the form the shoe is built around, and the fit of every size in a run is derived from it by grading. Grading is not simple scaling: length, girth and heel width change at different rates, which is why a shoe that fits perfectly at size 42 can be tight at 45.
Export programmes add a second problem: the same nominal size means different things in European, UK, US and Japanese systems, and a conversion table is only an approximation. State the market before the last is finalised, because it is much cheaper to grade to a market than to convert afterwards.
Fit corrections are made on the sample and then re-graded across the run before production opens. Correcting fit after a run has been graded means regrading, which is a tooling-level change rather than an adjustment.
Specifications
| Grading | Length, girth and heel width change at different rates |
|---|---|
| State early | Which sizing system the market uses |
| Fit corrections | On the sample, then re-graded before production |
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A sketch, a tech pack or a reference pair is enough to start. You will get a sample in thirty days and one contact who carries the style from there to shipment.