Fashion and footwear are two of the strategic sectors in Spain and have a great weight both in the national economy and in exports. Although at the moment, the Spanish footwear industry is not going through its best moment, we have to point out that Spain has more than 3,000 footwear manufacturers.
For any person, shoes of any kind (casual, sports, high heels, …) are essential to make our lives more comfortable, as they not only protect our feet, but also the type of footwear reflects our style and personality, but do you know how many components a shoe has? We are sure you have never asked yourself this question, so here we explain their parts and functions so that you can familiarise yourself with this profession.
COMPONENTS OF A SHOE
Any shoe or sports shoe has some essential components for its manufacture, which give it shape and comfort:
- Toe puff: this is located at the front and covers the toes. There can be different toe styles, such as rounded, square or tapered, and this can influence the overall appearance of the footwear.
- Insole: not to be confused with the sole, this part is not usually visible unless the shoe is disassembled, it is a vitally important part, located between the insole and the sole. It serves to give the footwear its shape, as well as flexibility to the shoe as a whole. The material that is usually used to make the shoe changes depending on the quality of the shoe, it is usually made of leather. In the most economical footwear, they are usually made of pressed cardboard. There are also shoes that dispense with this piece to achieve greater flexibility in the sole.
- Counter: this is a wing-shaped piece that is placed on the inside of the heel of the shoe to give it shape, flexibility, durability,…
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPONENTS IN FOOTWEAR QUALITY
It is quite common that, to reduce costs, the non-visible components of the shoe or sports footwear are often replaced by components of interior quality or simply eliminated. It is for this reason that sometimes we can find shoes that are apparently the same, but with very different prices.
Our recommendation is to always find out what materials the shoe is made of (if possible, quality, sustainable, recycled and / or biodegradable materials), as we must look after the health of our feet and at the same time take care of our surroundings (environment).
