5 Days Course at TwoTen, Boston
Next session: 6-10th February, 2012
Introduction
In the recent years the shift of the production of the US companies to the Far East factories has led to a lack of technical knowledge in the US. The new generation of the footwear professionals (those working in the field of product development and in other roles related to the product such as product management, design, merchandising, costing, planning) does not have a factory/manufacturing background. Most of the times they come from fashion/industrial design or management studies. The recent crisis has often led to a cut of travelling expenses. And the young people working in the US footwear companies often have not even visited a footwear factory. In 2007 Ars Sutoria school has decided to organize technical courses in the US geared around the needs of this new generation of footwear professionals. Few years later we have two training programs: one in Boston (with the support of Two Ten) more focused on casual/performance shoes and one in New York (with the support of FFANY) more focused on elegant/casual shoes.
Target Attendees
Profile: primary product development, but also product manager, designer, merchandiser and line builder. Experience: at least three years in the field of footwear. Exposure to overseas factories strongly advised
What to expect from the course
Greater understanding of the processes of production of different types of shoe constructions and deeper knowledge of the materials used in each stage of the process. An opportunity to refocus the experience and progress in a job that requires the ability to thoroughly analyze the product and interact with professional engineers from the overseas manufacturing of sample rooms and factories
Focus On
Casual, performance shoes. The course will see the presence of a specialist in synthetic materials for the outsoles, Apego.
Course Partners
Since 1947 in the field of leather, Ars Sutoria School keeps constantly updated and in tune with the needs and requirements of today's generation working in the footwear and leather goods industry throughout the world. More Info...
TwoTen is a charitable foundation offering Financial Assistance, Counseling, Community Resources and Scholarships to those working in the footwear industry. There are no fees required, or membership needed to benefit from these services. More Info...
Apego designs and manufactures all types of molds for shoes. Apego is the benchmark in high-tech molds for shoes, exports 90% of its production to over 20 countries and counts among its clients the leading national and international footwear companies. More Info...
Detailed agenda of training topics
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Fundamentals of shoemaking
Duration: 3 days
The first two days are conducted by Ars Sutoria Senior instructor Paolo Marenghi. On the third day Paolo Marenghi teams up with Andrea Montagna from Apego, Italy
Objective: understand the manufacturing process, materials and components used for traditional shoemaking. Specific focus on Cemented process (board lasting). Overview of alternative constructions.-
Technical and styling overview of families.
Men’s and Women’s footwear terminology for upper, middle and bottom components.
- Oxford
- Derby
- Sandal
- Moccasin
- Boot
- etc...
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The footwear process starting from the original idea and sketch to project, to pattern making, to choice of materials and components, to construction technique, manual operations and machine processes.
- The Last
- Overview of Design and Pattern Making
- Cutting of Upper and Linings
- Upper Pre-lasting and Lasting
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Materials for uppers and linings (fundamentals): leathers, synthetics and fabrics
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Leather tannage
- Oil tanning
- Fabrics-Textiles
- Fabrics for uppers and linings
- Synthetics for uppers
- Nesting of patterns for cutting
- Cost
- Shoe Structures
- Outsoles
-
The following shoe constructions are examined with relative videos. Samples of all are shown in class to attendees.
- Cemented (board lasting)
- Blake-McKay (littleway)
- Goodyear Welted
- San Crispino
- Opanka
- Moccasin
- Slip lasting
- Strobel
- Direct Rubber Vulcanization
- Built-up Vulcanized
- Direct Injection
-
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Overview of materials for moulded outsoles and knowledge of mould manufacturing
Duration: 1 day | Conducted by Andrea Montagna of Apego, Italy
This detailed lesson will cover several types of outsole materials for performance, safety and eco-friendly compounds. Outsole examples supplied by the instructor and different footwear will be used as examples to explain in detail not only the design related to the moulded material but also the impact the upper design with its components on the design of a mould and the flow of the moulded material during processes.
A complete guideline of plastic materials:
- Glossary/subdivisions of polymers
- Moulding processes
- Natural Rubbers features
- Synthetic Rubbers features
- Natural Rubber vulcanization
- Polyurethanes
- Thermoplastic Polyurethanes
- Ethylene-Vinyl-Acetate
- Polyvinyl Chloride
- Thermoplastic Olefin
- Plastic lasts features
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Overview of last analysis, footwear design and pattern making
Duration: 1 day | Conducted by Ars Sutoria Senior instructor Paolo Marenghi
Objective: focus on lasts, footwear design and manual pattern making.
The Last
General control of the main proportions of the last: Length, Fitting Girth, Instep Girth, Heel Girth. Method for analyzing the widths of the last according to the inner components used and the footwear performance
Footwear Design and Pattern Making
Overview of the fundamentals of pattern making:
Extra details on
- Method of design and pattern techniques for Strobel construction in relationship to running, safety and performance shoes.
- Design and pattern making of Moccasin constructions, traditional pre-punched open-shank and whole-cut vamp
- Design of boots and their different constructions such as: closed fitting style, wide fitting style etc.
Contacts
- Wendy Sani
- Ars Sutoria
- wsani@arsarpel.it
- Mary Hehir
- TwoTen
- mhehir@twoten.org
- www.twoten.org
Scholarships Available
Thanks to TwoTen you can apply for a scholarship to attend the 5-days course in Boston. The scholarship will cover the full value of the course. At least three years' experience is required to attend this course.
This was a great experience! This course takes you through the evolution of shoe making and design, from traditional to modern technologies. It's a wonderful introduction of leather and constructions. I would recommend it to anyone working with or on shoes. Penelope Guerrero- Sr. Designer Timberland
Moreover, another scholarship is available for a three-week comprehensive Footwear Product Development / Prototyping program at Ars Sutoria's educational facility in Milan, Italy (valued at $6,000).
Last Class Pictures
From Sept 13th to 16th in Waltham (MA) the last session of the Ars Sutoria one-week training course has taken place @ Two Ten Foundation offices.
This time attended companies like Brown Shoe, Clarks NA, Converse, Jimlar, New York Transit Inc., New Balance, Pacific Wholesale, The Rockport Co., Yellow Box Corp., Vibram USA