Spotlight on a ... Digital Engineer

What starts as a Footwear Designer’s 2D drawing is soon brought to life by our talented Digital Engineers. Using the latest 3D CAD technology, you’ll create incredibly realistic prototypes, allowing our designers to hold them in their hands and discuss the product’s strengths and weaknesses with range teams, without even having to contact a shoe factory. That’s quite a thing.

It also makes a huge difference to the business, saving time, money and workload for the factories. Our 3D models can also be used as a guide to create more accurate first samples when they’re sent to the factory.

So, you’ll get a brief from our designers. This will include a sketch that you’ll use to create a shoe model with realistic colour, thickness, proportions, padding and stitch detail. Then the model is built in layers using a 3D printer that glues layers of powder together, while adding colour to create a model that can be sent to assist the shoe factories. We’re got some great projects happening at the moment, and we’ve just finished creating the first prototypes of the Great British Olympic Sailing Teams’ boat shoes.