Product development is vital in footwear creation and covers everything from the design drawing through to samples ready for manufacture.
Typically we would break PD down into three categories depending on the clients budget and control over the product.
1: Full development -
This route allows you to have full control of your brand. You have your own individual Lasts, sole units, uppers and control the fit of your shoes. However full design/development is initially expensive.
The Last is the heart of the shoe and ironically the starting place for all footwear development .
At Lucky Cat we can develop your own last giving you full control over your fashion look and fitting.
As part of Full Development we create 3d data of the Last and the sole unit.
We use the design work to build the 3d model of the sole. When this is approved we can then 3d print the model and create a quick prototype mould for the first samples.
Meanwhile we work with our mould making partners to refine the data ready for wood models and metal moulds.
Sole development is the most expensive part of the
PD process. We make sure everything is correct and to our standards before proceeding with the metal mould. We understand all the soling compounds and their pros and cons when developing the sole unit.
To develop your own soles you need to have funds in place. Normally the sole moulds are required to be paid off in the first season.
Along with the Last and Sole unit development is the Upper development.
Factory pattern cutters start to create the pattern pieces to make the samples. These are created on the Last which has been developed. We oversee both the technical and aesthetic aspects of the sample and cross check against our specification pack.
Working with the sample room we generally create three rounds of samples to achieve the final finished shoe.
Once this is approved we move onto the commercialisation stage which covers costing, fitting and getting ready for manufacturing
2: Part Development (Uppers)-
This route is a cheaper way as you don't need to budget for sole and last development. The drawback is you will not have complete control of your aesthetics as you will need to use factory lasts and sole units.
3: Colours and materials-
The third basic type of development is where we take an existing style either in your range or 'off the shelf' and change the colour and materials. We have a very large supplier base for all types of materials.
We will still apply all standards, carry out testing and use suitable materials for the job.
This is the fastest way to develop footwear, however it will not have the unique DNA of a brand.
Time scales
These three examples only give a snap shot into the development process. This is the longest phase on the journey to market and it doesn't always run smoothly.
On average it can take 18 months for full development from concept drawings to delivery of manufactured product.
For Part development which are just new uppers this can on average take 6 to 7 months from drawing to manufactured product delivery
Colour and materials route is the fastest and on average is 3 to 4 months to manufactured delivery.
These timescales are dictated by lead times we need to work within. Here are some examples to think about:
Non leather materials - average 20 days
Leather delivery - average 3 to 5 weeks
Metal mould opened - average 2 weeks
Shipping from Asia - average 6 to 8 weeks