shoe diaries

has anyone tried to design and print a pair of shoes?

i am thinking about designing a new line of ladies shoes... manly i know but i was thinking what would sell and sell for a decent price...

i know there are ladies out there that are willing to pay top dollar for designer shoes and i would like to be that designer.

i see a couple of issues though-

price

design

durability

i was also thinking about designing a widget around the different available shoes that will show the different styles that are available and could also adjust the size as necessary.

as far as price is concerned- this is dependent on marketability. i am going to shoot for less then $200 a pair but that is going to be really iffy. what makes this interesting is dimensions.

the design is interesting too. it will come down to whether or not i want to augment the style with post production or if i could sell it straight out of shapeways. this comes down to price as well. i could definitely see where i could make more money painting or covering the shoes with fabric or something- this would take more time and experimentation but could reap considerable benefits.

about the durability, i am not sure the specs on the different printed materials as to how they pertain to continuous walking and standing.

i would like to hear from anyone that has tried this designing process or has any other ideas on the subject. i am in the design and experiment stage and any help would be cracker-jack!

my first iteration is HERE 

did a bit of a basic test model and the results were interesting to say the least.

the dimensions of the test were not alarming- basic flat with a slight heal. .8 inch high toe and a 1.5 inch heal. i inserted 2 holes on the side and 1 on the top to thread the ribbon through like a thong. i made it hollow as to conserve volume but i put trusses inside the hollow heal to strength it up.

after designing the shoe i uploaded it to find out what the cost was going to be. for one shoe it is upwards of $100... one curious thing though, the firs time i sent it through it registered at slightly lower then $100. after tweaking the design by decreasing the wall size from 3.5mm to 2mm (still higher then the recommended minimum width) it actually increased the price of the shoe to a couple of bucks more then $100...

if i can figure out several ways of eliminating volume i think that i can hit my goal of making a profitable pair shoe... hopefully i can settle on several so that i can have a configurator widget that people can use to design them.