2. 2 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
LINE CLOSE AW14 16
ZUUK WIMBLEDON 22
J HOOK DEVICE 44
GLOBAL LAUNCH AW14 66
J HOOK DEVELOPMENT 74
ZW SAMPLES 1 AND 2 84
PROTO II SS15 92
CHINA 100
FINAL DEMO PLAY 126
NEXT STEPS 136
CONCLUSION 142
4. 6 7
INTRODUCTION
People tend to focus too much on the what gear to wear while doing
their daily sport activity and they sometimes forget what they should
be wearing before and after that specific activity. After sports shoes or
non-running shoes are the shoes that will adapt to the users necessities
to cool down and get a better recovery.
This is a B3.1 internship in a company called Hi-Tec Sports, which is one
of the global leader brands in outdoor footwear. This internship’s struc-
ture consists in three different but linked themes; One is to design an
after sport shoe that will improve the recovery of the user when finished
exercise. Second theme is to design a J hook device that will display de
product and the third theme is to follow the design and development
process of the Product Team of the company throughout the collec-
tions.
workers in Xie Xing Mould factory
5. 8 9
HI-TEC
Hi-Tec Sports is one of the world leaders in sports and outdoor foot-
wear with distribution in approximately 85 countries. The company also
has a brand of technical boots for people in uniform all over the world
called Magnum.
Hi-Tec is inspired by its chairman Fran Van Wezel who in 1974 founded
the company creating a squash shoe that is still commercialized today
selling over 19 million pairs throughout these 39 years.
Hi-Tec’s main volume of sales consists in hiking boots, but they have
a wide range of products: snow boots, walking shoes, multi-sport, trail
running, athletic, running, squash, tennis, golf, sandals, casual and even
a clothing line.
6. 10 11
INTERNSHIP PROPOSAL
My main goals described in my internship proposal were:
- Adapting my artistic skills to meet those skills needed to become a
footwear designer.
- Experience the design process from its first stages to functional foot
wear design and real product.
- Learn how to produce technical drawings for footwear design (I have
done that before, during my fashion design studies and only related to
clothing).
- Discover and hopefully experience the whole of the footwear design
market, the processes that it involves and how it is developing.
To fulfil every goal, my company coach consulted the creative director
and he handed me a brief with the projects that I would be doing.
Along with the constant follow up of the entire Product Team with their
daily basis activities, I had to focus on two project; design a second ver-
sion of the “Zuuk” an after sport shoe launched in SS13, with over 160
thousand pairs sold worldwide and design a hook that will be used to
display this product into retail
7. 12 13
COMPANY COACH
Garie Sellar
Garie has been Hi-Tec’s Product Director for the last 16 years. He was
assigned as my company coach. Together we set up a schedule and
structure the time I was going to spend in the company and made sure
I did not get out of track throughout the internship period of time. He
also was the one to give me all the information about the distribution
of the departments, timelines and deadlines in which the product team
worked with. Garie put me in contact with the China staff to arrange my
trip there to follow the production process of their products as well as
setting up a schedule with visits and activities to several factories.
Simon Bryant
Simon has been the Global Range Manager in Hi-Tec for the last 5
years. Before working in Hi-Tec he was the Lifestyle Product manager
in Clarks International. He was the product manager that first launched
the Zuuk in SS13, and was the person that supervised my progress
with the Zuuk as well as with the J hook device project.
8. 14 15
STRUCTURE
Throughout these 16 weeks of internship the volume of activities has
been quite big. The report is divided into three main types of activities
that at many points of the semester are linked together: Hi-Tec’s prod-
uct team activities and events, after-sport shoe design and develop-
ment, J hook device design and development.
The format that will be used is normal timeline format. This may be at
some moments a bit confusing but it has a more realistic approach.
In the real life designers as constantly working with several projects at
the same time and in the footwear industry season collection usually
overlap and one week they work with AW14 and the following week they
have to come back to where they were in SS15 and so on.
9. LINE CLOSE AW14
Line Close is the fourth stage of any collection: first comes the design
stage where the designers receive the brief from the Creative Direc-
tor and make many designs. After design stage comes Proto 1 stage,
where from all of the first designs a filtered amount of them go to pro-
totype sample production. With the first samples done, these samples
need to be revised and re-designed a developed on to the Proto 2 stage.
After this stage the samples are supposed to be very close to what the
product managers want them to look like. Again, another revision and
development round with the samples of Proto 2 and Proto 2,5. Next
step is Line Close where there is still time for some minor adjustment
suggested by the general managers if needed.
NEGATIVE OF WEBBINGS
10. 18 19
LINE CLOSE AW14
Sales managers and general managers from US, Canada, UK, South
Africa, Latin America and BENELUX have a look at the full AW2014
season exposed and exhibited by the Product Managers.
They have open discussions based on numbers of previous seasons,
whether some models, colours, materials should be let down or not
based on the sales of the past and retail price. New models are careful-
ly examined.
These managers also have a look at how the marketing campaign would
look and give their opinion and ideas. When all is done, it’s time for them
to choose which shoes will they want for their market, some colours
and materials work for some markets some don’t. By the end of the
day there will be some models that will not be anymore in the collection
based on the demand.
The next day, there will be a more individual discussion with each man-
ager about the model and colour code that they chose and trying to
unify as much as possible with every manager. Also volumes of sales
are discussed here.
11. 20 21
LINE CLOSE AW14
After these managers leave, the next few days other manager
from places with less important volume of sales come. Spain, Ja-
pan and Middle East. The routine is the same as with the previous
GMs but this time the collection is smaller based on the previous
decisions.
After the Line Close week, all the aspects needed to be adjusted
in the samples are quickly revised and sent back to their produc-
tion factories as quick as possible to get the final samples ready
for production for the Global Launch meeting, which will be in 7
weeks time.
13. 24 25
BRIEF
Product brief:
Season SS 2015
Background:
The flip-flop and sandal business has changed rapidly over recent years.
Consumers now purchase branded products such as Reef, Haviannas for
around $30 €30.
Hi-Tec successfully launched the Zuuk, a mesh lightweight product that sits
above flip-flops as an easy on, easy wear product. It is sold in the same man-
ner as flip-flops i.e. self-select and on a J hook.
Brief:
Expand this category into a new close toe and open toe product. Use the
existing last and bottom unit.
Target retail to be $50.
Investigate how it can be best displayed and incorporate a branded J hook
or display mechanism that attaches to the product in retail, but allows easy
removal for self-service try on.
Consumer features:
Light weigh, immediately comfortable, stylish, and packable. Great value.
Design:
Needs to be fresh and innovative, a reason to buy an additional pair without
detracting from the launch product. To build on a family DNA. Visible brand-
ing required.
14. 26 27
ZUUK
The Zuuk, a mesh lightweight product launched for the Spring Summer
13 collection was the first j hook shoe for the company. It success was
such, selling over 160 thousand pairs all over the world that it was
present not just for SS 13 season but for the three next seasons as
well. The purpose of creating the Zuuk was to open a new category of
product for the brand, easy on easy off product, super lightweight and
retail friendly; great value for a very low price.
It’s design is very simplistic and deconstructive. Having one material in
the upper, one material for the lining and high pressure moulded EVA
outsole giving as a result a product with a weight of only 180g.
16. 30 31
INSPIRATION
To look for inspiration, I got the main three values
that gave the Zuuk it identity: lightweight, easy to
wear, minimal design.
17. 32 33
INSPIRATION
For the inspiration for the new Zuuk I focused on a big value in the com-
pany: Heritage. Since I have a strong background in tennis, when you
talk about heritage and tradition the word that comes to your mind is
Wimbledon; the oldest and most prestigious tournament in the world
of tennis. Since the Chairman is an active tennis player, I asked if Hi-
Tec never sponsored the tournament or some top player that played
in Wimbledon. Certainly Hi-Tec was the official footwear sponsor of the
tournament during the 90’s, in fact it did sponsor as well one of the
most talented players those days: Henry Leconte, a Frenchman former
No 6 in the world.
Henry Leconte played Wimbledon in 1994 with the Hi-Tec’s ABC Wim-
bledon, a symbol for the brand. Automatically I got my hands on that
product and used it as a reference for the design of the Zuuk. What
would Henry Leconte wear after his matches? That was question I
needed to ask myself to have a solid and coherent design for the next
Zuuk.
When looking for inspiration, I got my eyes on the Nike Presto; they are
a very confortable product, very fresh look even though it is a design
from 2000.
HENRY LECONTE
1994 WIMBLEDON
NIKE PRESTO
18. 34 35
DESIGN
Going through the design process, it can be appreciated a strong
influence of the Nike Prestos in the first designs. The idea was to
do something similar but with a Hi-Tec look. The problem was the
budget, in the brief I was handed I had a limit of 50$ for retail, that
means no more than 10$ for production. The intention was to have
a moulded piece of plastic logo that would give support once the
laces were tied. This type of construction would raise the cost of the
product to 12-14$ since every moulded piece is very expensive. I
can only afford to have one moulded unit and that would be the out-
sole.
PROCESS
19. 36 37
DESIGN
When moving on, to try to come up with something improved from the
original Zuuk within the budget I marked out a few things that I thought
that could be improved:
The plastic stopper that adjusts the elastic laces; who uses that in an
after sport shoe? to experience it myself, I got a pair of Zuuks and used
them for 2 months and I have never adjusted my laces, only the first
time I put them on. Since the laces are elastic I just put them on and
off without adjusting anything. That was one of the aspects I wanted to
change in my design.
Second aspect I wanted to improve was to highlight the Hi-Tec logo the
Harpoon. In the original Zuuk the logo seems that it was just stitched on
top to make people see its Hi-Tec. I want the logo to be part of the de-
sign and functionality.
Third main aspect was to turn the materials around. I liked the texture
and comfort of the air mesh, but for the lining not for the upper. I want-
ed the shoe to give comfort from the inside out.
PROCESS
SHOELACE BEHIND
THE LOGO TAG
3D MESH
LINING
ORIGINAL
ZUUK DESIGN
20. 38 39
DESIGN
Before setting the definitive lines to the design, I prototyped
a sample and wrapped it with paper tape and drew into
the shoe. After several corrections I finally got the intended
shape and was ready to put it on paper.
FINAL DESIGN
21. 40 41
DESIGN
After discussing several designs with the Product Manager, I final-
ly decided to go forward with this design. The influence of the ABC
Wimbledon is clearly marked by the colours. Keeping the lining purple
as the original Wimbledon as well as the logo and some green details
bring this product back to the grass of the All England Lawn Tennis
Club in 1994.
Single layer mesh for the upper and air mesh for the lining gives the
Nike Prestos comfort and look, but for half the retail price as the Ni-
ke’s. The purple webbing on the heel gives continuity to the harpoon
and there is a green zigzag stitch on the back to give a playful and
sophisticated look to the product.
No more adjusting the elastic laces, no need. Just fit it in and out and
no more plastic stoppers. I present to you the Zuuk Wimbledon.
FINAL DESIGN
22. 42 43
DESIGN
Once the design was set, in order to get the production sample I need-
ed to send the details to the Hi-Tec team in China.
First page was to give an overall view of the product. Second page
shows the stitching details and how the laces had to go underneath the
tongue label. Third page of the spec gave information about the lining,
and how the tongue needed to be attached to the upper. The last page
was focused on the materials. It is appreciated that there are no pat-
tern details in the specs: in Hi-Tec’s office in China they have a team of
pattern masters that interpret the spec drawings and create patterns
based on those.
I sent this specs document and the paper tape prototype with my inter-
pretation of the design with the Design team to China. The design team
spent 10 days in the China office to review the second stage of Spring
Summer 15 season: Proto 1 review.
There they will have a first look at the samples and give instructions to
the local developers, in this stage it is very usual to have a complete dif-
ferent look to what it should be, that is why there are two more rounds
of sample productions and revisions.
FINAL DESIGN
23. J HOOK DEVICE PROJECT
INTRO
RESEARCH & EXPLORATION
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
NEGATIVE OF NIKE TOWN LONDON’S THIRD FLOOR
24. 46 47
INTRO
HI-TEC’s current j-hooked device does not communicate any brand mes-
sage in any way regarding the shape, colour, material, and functionality.
The Zuuk model has been the first Hi-Tec shoe to be in this type of dis-
play platform, not even sandals had been displayed in a J-hooked format.
Because of the high demand they chose the fastest, cheapest, available
product that was in the market to display the Zuuk’s. This was in SS13,
there was supposed to be a research project about the j-hooked device
but it was never made.
My goals were to design a j-hooked device that fits all Zuuk’s and san-
dals that transmitted the brand message not just by the shape but also
find a way to transmit it by the material used and usability. The company
wants to approach the customer in a different way to distinguish them-
selves from the other companies with j-hooked displayed products.
HI-TEC’S CURRENT
J HOOK DEVICE
25. 48 49
RESEARCH&EXPLORATION
Since I was not very familiar with the J hook hangers and
ways to present products in retail, I decided to visit the
largest city in Europe: London.
I spent one week there going into shops and see how prod-
ucts where presented and looking for inspiration. I did not
just focus on the J hook device, but also the freestanding
unit.
26. 50 51
Once back in the main office in Amsterdam, the design team was still
away for the Proto1 review in China. I had a couple of days of brain-
storming and compiling information in the web. When the team was
back I discussed with my Company Coach all my progress concerning
the project and he came back to me discarding the freestanding unit
research, they wanted me to focus on the J hook device.
Having to use the available freestanding unit, the options to make some-
thing radically different from the original design were not available any
more. After many sketches and measurements I started the Prototyp-
ing & Development process of the project.
RESEARCH&EXPLORATION
27. 52 53
Taking into account that all Hi-Tec sandals, thongs and Zuuks had to fit
the J hook, I designed one first prototype. It was very experimental since
I did not know if it was going to give the support needed or if the meas-
urements were going to fit properly into the products.
The hook was shaped with a more organic shape, because of the brand
message. Hi-Tec is inspired by life and its nature. The prototype fitted
pretty well the thongs, but did not fit as well as the Zuuk’s because of
the width of the device and shortness of the arms.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 1
28. 54 55
For the second prototype I kept the organic shape, similar to a heart.
The arms on the side got longer to get better support of the Zuuk.
The fitting of the Zuuk had improved slightly compared with the proto-
type 1. Using prototype 2 for the thongs was good, the support was the
same, but the J hook seemed too big for the product.
The material used for prototyping was 800g/m cardboard, a pretty
strong cardboard, but still after fitting the products, there appeared to
be a weak point in one edge of one of the arms of the hook.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 2
PROBLEM
29. 56 57
After the first two prototypes, I had a meeting with my Product Man-
ager to discuss my progress. His main remarks were not to focus on
thongs anymore, and to keep focusing on the Zuuk but this time adding
sandals to the possible products to fit in the future prototypes.
Discarding the thongs as one of the target products made instant
changes concerning the design. The arms were closer to each other
this time and the actual hook part could get longer.
After the fitting with Zuuks and sandals, Zuuks were fine but there were
two main problems concerning sandals fitting: The hook of the device
was too short and was hitting the toe part of the sandal, and the arms
of the device where too straight and did not match well with the design
of the sandals.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 3
30. 58 59
Following the line of the organic shapes, the prototype 4 main changes
where the hook and the curved arm cavities. The hook was an exper-
imentation to see if this shape would work with the sandals, and the
curved arms were to see if this time it would match with the sandals
ankle support pieces.
Same as with prototype 3, fitting the Zuuk in was no problem. Sandals
fitting were still not great, not because of the hook this time but be-
cause of the curved cavities. Since they were too curved it had to be
very carefully fitted in order not to get the J hook device stuck into any
hole of the sandals design. I also didn’t give enough support to some
types of sandals in the part of the toe; the arms were to short.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 4
31. 60 61
This prototype’s design has longer arms and less curved cavities be-
tween them and a new design of the hook.
The results of the fitting with this prototype were very satisfactory com-
pared with the previous designs. The longer arms finally gave the sup-
port needed for those sandals that required it, and the curved cavities
where easy to fit in the sandals. Zuuks fitting remained normal giving
no problems. The only thing to improve was the design of the hook part;
it was too weak and it needed to be a bit longer to make sure it did not
touch some toe support pieces of the sandals.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 5
32. 62 63
The design of prototype6 was very similar to the previous proto-
type; expect the hook design that it was a couple of millimetres
longer and with a more solid design.
This prototype finally fulfilled all the requirements. It still was not
too different from what is out there in the market.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 6
33. 64 65
Having already found a right shape for the fittings, the
prototype 7,8 and 9 where just en exploration of the
outline, to play with the similar organic shapes I have
been using in the past several prototypes.
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
PROTOTYPE 7, 8, 9
P7
P8
P9
35. 68 69
After receiving the samples of the Line Close revision, Global
Launch is the last step for any season to go on to mass produc-
tion and shipping. Unlike Line Close, this time the collection is
finished and will not suffer any changes in terms on design and
technical aspects. Global Launch is a big presentation to the sub-
sidiaries all over the world and to the international Hi-Tec offices
presenting the full collection, this time is AW14 collection. This is
the moment where models and their volumes of shipments are
ordered by the Hi-Tec international offices as well as multi-brand
stores all over the world.
The format of presentation starts with the CEO giving a busi-
ness update to everybody. The creative director continues with
some product highlights. Later on, a marketing overview by the
Marketing Director, and then the collection is presented by each
of their Product Managers and their sections. The discussions
here are not anymore about design and technical issues, but it’s
more of a business point of view and trying to sell the product
more like Apple keynotes.
GLOBAL LAUNCH AW14
37. 72 73
After Global Launch, for the product team the AW14 season is
basically over and now they can focus only on the development
of the SS15. The footwear technologist receives the production
samples in all sizes and makes sure that the factory assigned
to assemble that specific model is doing it properly avoiding any
malfunction issue.
This is can be a big problem sometimes, because the develop-
ment samples are produced by a company in China that only
builds development samples. Usually in very small volumes be-
cause is usually for the Product Department. When it comes to
normal production, normal factories are in charge of assembling
the shoes and sometimes there are some differences between
an assembly line in one factory and another assembly line in an-
other factory than maybe has more experienced staff.
GLOBAL LAUNCH AW14
39. 76 77
After the Global Launch presentation, I have not yet received the
development sample of the Zuuk Wimbledon and there was still
work to be done.
During the GL meeting I had time to show my progress to the
Creative Director, since he is only in the office once every two
months. Concerning the J hook device, the main feedback was
that it needed to be more “different”. The general view of my
design was that maybe with a different shape, but more or less
was the same every brand was doing. Another important turn to
the development process was that it was not about sandals any-
more. They wanted a J hook device only for the Zuuk model.
With the space limitations, I started thinking what I could do with
the Zuuks to make them look different from others. Positioning
of the shoes was one possibility so I started experimenting.
PROTOTYPE 10
Prototype 10 uses the same shape of prototype 6 but just var-
ies the positioning of the arms making one higher that the other.
The fitting was no problem, same as prototype 6, giving some
movement to the design.
J HOOK DEVICE
40. 78 79
PROTOTYPE 11
Having already started playing with the positioning of the shoes, I
gave it one more turn and though why do the shoes always have
to be on an upper view? Why not having one with upper and one
with lateral or medial view?
Sharing the progress with the Product Manager, he was im-
pressed with this concept and encouraged me to continue with
this idea.
J HOOK DEVICE
41. 80 81
PROTOTYPE 12, 12A
Prototype 12 and 12A use the same concept of P11 but a bit
more simplified concerning the arm that supported the shoe
with the upper view, and reinforced the part of the hook.
After discussing it with the Product Manager we came to a con-
clusion that this is the right way to go, but in any footwear prod-
uct, the side that shows the most features is the lateral side and
not the medial side which is the one that is shown in these last
three prototypes.
J HOOK DEVICE 12
12A
42. 82 83
PROTOTYPE 13
Having in mind the feedback from the previous prototypes, I de-
signed the P14 to show an upper view on one shoe and a lateral
view on the other. This design was the definitive design except
for the hook part, which needed to be reviewed, but that will not
come until the week before the final Demo Play.
J HOOK DEVICE
44. 86 87
During the development of Prototype 13 and 14 with the J hook
device the development sample of the Zuuk Wimbledon arrived
from China.
The sample arrived with different colours than what it was ex-
pected but it looked very good. This sample was to see if the pat-
tern masters had interpreted the design in the right way.
After spending time with the Product Manager and a member
of the company in China, we made a review of the sample for the
development of the next prototype.
Things to improve:
1 Reshape slightly the harpoon so it doesn’t look heavy, thin
ner PU (material used) and with some perforations.
2 Pull the lining out in the ankle part.
3 Reduce the tongue piece.
4 Stich the logo on the tongue so the knot of the laces
doesn’t move from underneath it.
5 Add more support to the vamp (front part of the shoe) by
adding an extra layer of air mesh.
6 Thicker Ortholite footbad, like Zuuk lite 4,5 mm
ZUUK WIMBLEDON
1
4
2
6
3
5
46. 90 91
With these instructions given to the member of the company in
China, The final sample would be assembled within a couple of
weeks right in time when I would be in China so I could bring the
samples myself.
Before the final sample was made, they quickly produced a pre-fi-
nal sample with the materials and colours intended to be defin-
itive. There was something that needed to be improved: it was
the logo stitched on the tongue. It did not look good so we decid-
ed to stitch the knot straight into the tongue before placing the
logo and then stitch it normally.
ZUUK WIMBLEDON
47. SS15 PROTO II REVIEW
NEGATIVE OF THE PROTO II MEETING
48. 94 95
With these instructions given to the member of the company in
China, The final sample would be assembled within a couple of
weeks right in time when I would be in China so I could bring the
samples myself.
Before the final sample was made, they quickly produced a pre-fi-
nal sample with the materials and colours intended to be defin-
itive. There was something that needed to be improved: it was
the logo stitched on the tongue. It did not look good so we decid-
ed to stitch the knot straight into the tongue before placing the
logo and then stitch it normally.
SS15 PROTO II REVIEW
ONE OF THE SAMPLE REVIEW
WITH THE ORIGINAL SHELL
PATTERN
49. 96 97
Once all these discussions are made, samples are placed into
something similar to a price map where every single model is
presented to the sales department. This is more like an internal
Line Close where the product team shows the new season col-
lection to the sales team.
After this, the Product managers meet with the designers to
give them the instructions of the firsts days’ revision of the
samples. With the corrections the designers fly out to China to
spend a week developing the samples with corrections, colour
codes and material changes with the local developers in order to
get everything ready for the next round of samples for the Proto
2.5 review before the Line Close.
SS15 PROTO II REVIEW
51. CHINA
LAB
FACTORIES
SUPPLIERS
TANNERY
ZUUK WIMBLEDON
NEGATIVE OF SHOELACE FACTORY
When the designers have the trip to China to develop P2 samples I decided
to join them for 10 days with the main goal of getting to know the production
process of the companies products.
Before going to China the previous week my Company Coach made a plan-
ning for me for the days that I would spend there in Jinjiang. I visited the Hi-
Tec office where I spent some time in the Lab where they make all the tests
to the material and samples to make sure they pass several security tests
and more technical stuff, also in the office there is a sample room where
they produce the development samples for the Product Team. When I was
not in the office I was visiting factories; several assembly lines of different
models of the brand, and visited as well a couple of suppliers of all types.
52. 102 103
When the designers had the trip to China to develop P2 samples
I decided to join them for 10 days with the main goal of getting
to know the production process of the companies products.
Hi-Tec works with a company called HTSCG, which is in charge of
finding the right factories to produce their products, as well as
development samples, material testing and logistics.
The first day I spent the entire day in the HTSCG office in the Lab-
oratory System and Test method. This laboratory is where every
material Hi-Tec uses is tested in order to reach a minimum of
quality and determined properties. The laboratory will be certi-
fied by SATRA in a few months. SATRA is the world leading au-
thority on international legislation and testing of a wide range of
products from leathers, clothing, textiles, toys, safety products,
furniture and even cleaning & laundry products. For the laborato-
ry to be certified by SATRA it needs to have certain quality stand-
ards with the machines they use as well as test methods and
staff qualification.
LABORATORY
53. 104 105
In this lab, the materials and shoes go through 43 different tests
before going to mass production so the quality is guaranteed
and certified. Water related tests are waterproof bending tests,
water repellence, and humidity tests.
Hi-Tec is a company that usually works with all types of leathers
and they need specific test machines to test leather abrasion,
softness, cracking resistance, and waterproof.
Safety shoes are also in need to have special machines that test
the toe load, foot impact load and all the other regular tests but
with a higher number or repetitions
LABORATORY
WATER PROOF TESTSAFETY SHOES TEST
LEATHERS / PU TEST
54. 106 107
Velcro, zippers and shoelaces also go through exhaustive testing
with abrasion tests, wear and tear in the case of Velcro and slide
fasteners for the zippers.
Mostly any material used for the assembly of a product in Hi-Tec
goes through abrasion tests, bending, electricity resistant, and
UV testing (72h exposed to UV light, equivalent to 6 months to
one year of use to determine the degree of discoloration).
There are also tests once the shoe is assembled, mainly bending
tests where the shoes go through one million flexes in normal
conditions as well as in extreme cold (-30 C) and afterwards
examined to determine damage. Aging is also tested on the as-
sembled product with 72h exposed over 70 C.
LABORATORY
shoe flexing machine
oven test
ZIPPER TEST outsole test
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After spending time in the Laboratory, I went to three factories where
Hi-Tec has assembly lines for four different models. In Jinjiang area
most of the factories are like “freelance” factories that usually assem-
ble many brands products. One assembly team can work with sever-
al brands in one day. How it usually works is that they have a certain
amount of pairs that need to be done in a certain time. After that, there
comes another brand with another volume of pairs to be assembled.
Bigger companies like Nike have their own factories and assembly lines
making their product cheaper and with more profit margin, but at the
same time the volume they assemble is significantly higher than the
companies that use the first type of factories.
For the assembly lines the procedure works in general terms the same
with every product; the more features the product has the longer the
assembly procedure like waterproof products need to have a water-
proof membrane etc.
The assembly cannot start without a board of instruction saying where
each pattern needs to be placed and the order of placement. Once that
is clear, the stitching starts. In the assembly of any products there are a
couple of factors that need to be taken into account:
The time; less time more quantity. Quality, more quality less time but
having experienced employees gives the factory both quality and quanti-
ty. This is why for some critical parts of the process they need very ex-
perienced people of the job.
FACTORIES
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After stitching the patterns together, the last is inserted into the shoe
to shape it properly. The first way start shaping the shoe to the last is
heating the product, after the last is fitted using a system called board
lasting; it can either be separated board lasting divided in toe, heel and
side lasting or can be integral board lasting. This system uses high com-
pression to the shoe to get the best fitting.
After this step, the midsole/outsole is cemented into the bottom part
of the shoe previously heated and glued several times.
Once the last is taken apart from the shoe, the products are put togeth-
er in pairs and each pair is carefully inspected to see if they look com-
pletely alike. Passing the quality checks each pair is inserted into a box
with all the labelling and now is ready to be shipped.
FACTORIES
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MOLD FACTORY
In Xie Xin Mould factory they are in charge of the production of the
moulds for midsoles/outsoles of some of Hi-Tec’s products. The pro-
cess starts with a Blue Print, which is a technical drawing of the design
of the outsole. The factory has its own 3d modellers that interpret the
design and create a 3d rendering which later on they send back to the
Product Team with all the measurements to make sure the interpreta-
tion is correct.
Once the 3d rendering is right, there is a machine, which shapes a
mould card into the 3d render shape; this is called a wood print.
From the wood print it goes to a metal mould, which is the inverse
shape of the wood print. The material intended of the outsole can
change the composition of the metal, for example EVA outsoles/mid-
soles need Aluminium moulds and rubber outsoles/midsoles need Iron
moulds. Once these moulds are shaped, texture is added to the mould if
needed. There are texture boards that are applied to the mould by hand
and very carefully. After a certain times of use, the moulds need to be
repaired and reused.
SUPPLIERS
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Shoelace FACTORY
The machines have many pivots that each one has one threat
and they rotate around their on axis and around the centre, like
planets on the solar system. In this factory they also produce
elastic bands and webbings.
SUPPLIERS
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SHOE BOX FACTORY
Cardboard used for the shoe boxes has more than 7 layers of paper
with different thicknesses. The top layer is screen-printed with the label-
ling and sizing of the product, and then all the layers are glued together.
Once the cardboard is dry, it is cut with the desired shape. Inside every
Hi-Tec shoe box, there is a message from the Founder and Chairman
Frank van Wezel, this message is printed through big rolls with the
print on it. After all this process, the cardboard is ready to send it to the
assembly lines location where it will be folded right before placing the
product.
SUPPLIERS
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MIDSOLE SUPPLIER
It all begins with making the EVA. The method of production starts mix-
ing several compounds containing foaming agents, filling agents, colour-
ing agents etc. Each compound maintains a certain percentage to get
different type of EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate).
The mixture is heated in an oven for a certain time. Then, the compound
is transferred to rollers where once the material is cooled sheets of
EVA are created.
Once the material is in sheets is cut into raw midsole shape of a prede-
termined size. This raw shape into a moulding tool where the final mid-
sole is formed under heat and pressure as is shaped into a final form
after being cooled.
SUPPLIERS
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Feng An tannery is a supplier for many companies, Hi-Tec one of them.
They import the leathers from USA and Argentina and separate the
leather in layers. Usually the leather already comes separated, they buy
the second best part of the leather, which is the suede.
What this factory does is put the raw hides into a large spinning drum,
filled with water. This rinses the hides but also soaks it and makes it
easier to work with making it more flexible and easier to cut and split
later on. Later on the hides are fed into a machine that splits the leath-
er into two layers. Both layers go into a large revolving drum once more,
this time to be dyed with colorants for two hours.
The top layer of the hide stays how it is and the bottom part will be used
for synthetic leather where the top part is usually PU with different
types of thickness and textures that will be glued on top of the hide.
TANNERY
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During my stay in China, the HTSCG office was very busy producing de-
velopment samples for the Product Team so the production of the Zuuk
Wimbledon had to be stitched by another assembly line. When the sam-
ple arrived it needed some adjustments and cement the outsole with
the upper.
The bottom unit had to be placed, before all the pieces need to be
stitched. Once ready the shoe is heated with vapour so it can adapt bet-
ter to the last. The rest of the procedure is a regular assembly proce-
dure already explained.
ZUUK WIMBLEDON
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Taking advantage of my stay in the HTSCG office, I decided to make and
extra development sample for the Zuuk Wimbledon project with some
improvements and explorations.
First of all I wanted to choose a different upper material, since the white
single layer mesh of the upper of the Zuuk Wimbledon could get very
dirty easily. I chose a navy jean canvas, not just because of the non-elas-
tic material but also because of the thickness. The white upper of the
Zuuk Wimbledon can get too thick especially around the vamp zone.
Another aspect to change in the design of the Zuuk Wimbledon was
the heel part, the purple webbing and the zigzag stitching does not look
terrible but thinking in a business point of view, it can be very dangerous
taking into account that it needs to be perfect in order to look good for
mass production and is a big risk that is not worth taking. I decided to
use a webbing to cover the stitching line and forget about the horizontal
webbing.
Already having experienced how the shoes are produced I marked and
cut the patterns myself and unfortunately did not have enough time to
stitch it. In my previous bachelor I practiced a lot with stitching but could
put it in practice because of time issues. I left the instructions done
right before leaving and a week later the sample arrived in the AMS
office.
ZUUK WIMBLEDON
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For the final Demo Play the main goal of the project was to show all my
progress throughout these past months. The stand was divided in three
parts:
The Zuuk Wimbledon product with posters of the inspiration and expla-
nation, the J hook device with a short text of the process, small visual
process of all the prototypes and a short text about the product it was
displaying and finally the development samples showing the process.
To give more of a Wimbledon look, it all was displayed over artificial
grass and a pained wooden sheet with the Hi-Tec logo and the name of
the product.
One thing I changed before the exhibition was the design of the to part
of the J hook device, that needed revision.
FINAL DEMO PLAY
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FEEDBACK
One very important aspect of the final Demo Play is the feedback re-
ceived, it can be very useful for the future development of the product
as well as for reflections.
Comparing with other students, my work actually had 2 finished pairs
on the table, so maybe that was why the feedback was not as creative
as it can be when they see that something doesn’t look finished.
General comments of a very solid display with good presentation and a
professional look and people very impressed with the quality of the prod-
ucts. No much negative feedback, only in terms of taste whether they
like the design or not but not much feedback on what I could have done
better.
FINAL DEMO PLAY
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As a natural perfectionist, everything can be improved. My lack of experi-
ence in the footwear business made me make many mistakes during the
design and development process of the product. Having a look at the end
result of both the J hook device and the Zuuk Wimbledon it is inevitable to
try to think ahead.
The J hook device development will continue by Product Team, it is some-
thing they see potential and will go forward with on that direction. They actu-
ally showed my design during the Proto II meeting with the sales team. The
fact that is 2dimension design makes the production cheaper and efficient
when cutting the material and the fact that it can display the top and lateral
view of the product they find it very interesting and unique.
NEXT STEPS
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For the Zuuk Wimbledon, I made a spec of how the next development sam-
ple would look like. Main visual changes are situated on the heel, placing a
webbing on the back hiding the seam that splits both lateral and medial side
would look cleaner and better. Instead of the horizontal purple webbing on
the heel, just keeping the same as the upper but with a closed seam on the
top part of the heel with the same colour as the harpoon to give continuity
to the logo.
Another thing to be improved is the tongue construction, it has to be sim-
plified into just the shape of the tongue and only having one elastic band
on each side to be attached to the sides. The current design has a wider
tongue pattern and you can feel it once you put it on.
Last detail to be changed and most important is the material of the upper.
Since the lining had to be purple and the upper white, I had to use two layers
of air mesh; one purple and one white but showing the single layer mesh
and hiding the air mesh face inside. Only one layer of air mesh makes the
vamp have no support over the feet because the material can be very elas-
tic.
The idea could be to find something in between the current Zuuk Wimble-
don and the prototype I made with the navy canvas in China; elastic enough
to give freedom but not too much go give support and with air mesh for the
lining to give the comfort of the original Zuuk Wimbledon. All this into a thin-
ner material to give the product a lighter look.
NEXT STEPS CURRENT ZW
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What would I do if I had to do it again?
Now that I know how the production process and assembly many things
would change. I would have done a much more detailed drawings and tech-
nical details as well. I definitely regret not staying in China for a longer peri-
od. 10 days was not enough for me, right when I was going to start stitching
my own sample it was time for me to go. Also to visit more factories and do
more hands on activities. Hopefully in the future I will have the chance to go
back and continue learning.
To be the first intern Hi-Tec has had in their 39 years of history I have to be
very thankful to the entire team. Maybe since no one in the office was used
to having an intern around, there where a few moments that I would have
liked more feedback. This is no criticism; I think is no ones fault since they
are all busy doing their work with demanding deadlines and I did not want
to bother but I really appreciated the time and effort spent on me. In those
moments, I took my own decisions and kept with the development forward.
Other than that, this semester has been so successful and so positive I
would not change many things that happened. I would do it again almost as
it was.
DISCUSSION PAGE
PATTERN MASTER WORKING
HTSCG JINJIANG OFFICE
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I feel extremely lucky to be able to do an internship where I really wanted. I
have a passion and a vocation, not everybody has it and the ones that do it
is very difficult to do an intern in that specific field where you want to special-
ize.
Not doing work related to footwear during this bachelor until now has giv-
en me extra motivation to face this semester as a test to myself to find out
what a real footwear designer/developer does and fin out if I see myself in
this business.
My general comment is that I was very impressed on the amount of work
that comes into a single pair of shoes, both handcraft and machinery.
There is no room for any negative conclusion. Everything that happened this
past few months has been an amazing experience with a great team that
has helped me so much and I have learned lots from them.
CONCLUSION
ZW TOE LASTING
HTSCG JINJIANG SAMPLE ROOM
