Many parts of the fashion industry are standardized for consumers, such as sizing scales, but not all bodies are standard. Of course, this seems like it goes without being said — but we are still facing a disconnect between brands’ consideration for their audiences and shoppers feeling understood. When it comes to footwear, everyone falls somewhere on the standard American sizing scale — but does that scale truly account for all of the intricacies that should be considered when creating the ideal shoe?

This is the question that IAMBIC footwear co-founder, Maeve Wang, just couldn’t shake when the idea for IAMBIC manifested in her mind. After calculating that she had gone through the process of returning over 300 pairs of shoes across the span of three years, due to fit issues and discomfort, Wang decided to take matters into her own hands. Using NASA-approved AI-scanning technology, Wang, her business partner Raza Hassan, and a skilled team of scientists developed a shoe that is truly made for its wearer. Gone are the days of painful blisters, arch pain, or just general shoe disappointment. With IAMBIC footwear, you aren’t subjected to fitting to a limiting mold, instead, you become the mold.

PhotoBook sat down with Maeve Wang to discuss her journey with IAMBIC, what the team spent over three years developing and producing, and what the future of fashion looks like to her, now that this technology is within reach.

Tell me about the industry that you originally started your career in.
I started my career as a management consultant at Bain. There, I developed expertise in retail strategy and financial services. Later, I got bitten by the innovation bug. I went on to spearhead investment and product development in wearables, data analytics, digital health, and digital content. That was when I started getting this deeper understanding of how data and technology could improve the physical things that we interact with every single day. I discovered this opportunity involving shoe fit because I was dealing with a personal challenge. I loved shoes, especially super chic loafers. But I just started noticing that I was having constant problems with my shoes fitting comfortably. So I started paying more attention to it and trying to find shoes that were a really good fit, while also still preserving that sleek and elegant silhouette. So leveraging my background, I started to conduct a lot of research. I interviewed hundreds of people and poured over hundreds of research papers. And that was when I discovered that I wasn't alone. So many other people were frustrated from being in pain from poor shoe fit — just like me. And at the time I also learned that over 20 billion pairs of shoes are produced annually around the world. That's a staggering number. It just seemed impossible that none of those could fit me. So I thought, 'It's just a matter of matchmaking.’ If I could get sufficient high-resolution data on people's foot shapes and fit preferences from a consumer-grade device, like a smartphone, and I could get high-resolution product specifications data by working directly with the brands and ultimately the retailers, I could utilize 3D modeling and material science to match the two.

We started as a software company aiming to address this challenge around fit prediction. But then as we delved into the supply chain, we uncovered that shoe fit is deeply rooted in fast fashion, mass manufacturing, and design, and fixing the current system with software data analytics algorithms could take us nearly a decade. Fit prediction requires millimeter-level precision and consistency throughout a globally fragmented, archaic supply chain. So we realized that if we wanted to get people shoes that were their perfect fit, we may have to look beyond fast fashion. This led me to question: could we merge luxury and fit with scientific ergonomics and manufacturing techniques to make custom shoes more accessible?

You talked about the 'aha moment' for IAMBIC being your excessive shoe returns. Tell me about the standard process of creating a sneaker and how you're reinventing that procedure through IAMBIC’s foot-scanning technology.
Let's get into it. There's a saying in the footwear industry that goes, 'Everything starts with the last,' and the 'last' is the physical mold. It's sort of foot-shaped, and it is the foundation of how a shoe fits and functions. This is the heart of a shoe. But it's remained a fully hand-built art for centuries — and the reason for that is that shoes are inherently not foot-shaped. As shoes are an art, the way that they fit you is also an art. We decided to build our AI algorithms so that we can automate this art which merges both science as well as that eye for beautiful artistic ratios that has guided last making for centuries to date. The reason why it's resisted digitization automation is because it's so hard to get right. So that is the most technical part of this. How do you automate a fully hand-built, heritage craft of bespoke shoemaking? That's what's taken us years. Those years of testing included the number one foot and footwear researcher in the world, an industrial design legend with over 30 years of experience, material scientists, computational biomechanics folks, and people who have experience in 3D modeling. It took so much interdisciplinary collaboration to get to this point.

So to get a shoe last custom fitted to you, the process that we've designed is really simple. After people order shoes on our website, we then send them to our app. That's when you take three pictures of each foot — top, inner, and outer views — and then complete our comfort assessment. What does comfort mean to you? Is it more or less cushioned? Typically, what is your biggest pain point? All of that data comes into our AI models so that we can custom-fit the shoe last for you. After that, the data comes into our AI models and we then generate a 3D model of the last for you. So what could take months, we end up doing in minutes or seconds. And then that data goes to Portugal where all of our shoes are sourced and manufactured locally. We designed the shoe so that it could be flexibly constructed around the shoe mold while preserving the durability that is important for a high-quality premium shoe that's built to last.

We also offer a white glove experience for our executive experience clients. Those who are in the New York area can come to our studio by Columbus Circle and get scanned with the Artec Space scanner, which is a scanner that NASA uses on the International Space Station. We built the smartphone scanner using that data and we're very proud of that.

Why did you decide to center production in Portugal?
Portugal is the perfect blend of many centuries of shoemaking, as well as this openness to innovation and collaboration. We found incredible suppliers and factory partners who have experience in both traditional bulk shoemaking, but also manufacturing for multiple shoe categories beyond just dress shoes and boots. One of the greatest things about our partners is that they work with top-tier brands around the globe and we're just so proud to consider ourselves among them, including those in the LVMH family.

Why do you believe footwear should be more personalized to the wearer?
When we started delving into the supply chain before we moved forward with our brand, we found how shoes today are only optimized to fit 33% of people super well. For about 40% of people, they fit tolerably well or they just don't care because they prioritize fashion over fit. But for 27% of people, those are people I consider to be the silent major minority. They are excluded from standard sizing and are frustrated by that problem. Myself included!

What are some of the most comfort-maximizing or more advanced technical features you'd like to highlight from the brand’s most recent model, the Model T?
So the core of our technology is in the shoe last. That's the hardest thing to overcome. But one of the things we're most excited about is our sole print design, which is designed to fit the shoe around a unique last while remaining durable. We have three different components to our sole that each have different material properties that have been fused. There's a very flexible sidewall and an incredibly durable outer tread so that it has traction. And then it also has this additional layer of reinforcement that'll last longer. We've built that layer to have a unique color that peaks through between the shoe's ridges. Those ridges function like wear bars on a tire, and as you wear them down, they're going to wear unevenly based on your unique walking pattern, your alignment, your balance, and your gait. It's going to reveal that layer of color around the outer edges so that for your next pair of IAMBICs, you have the option of providing comfort feedback on your previous pair as well as taking images of your sole print for us to learn from. That is why we describe it as a shoe that evolves with you. It's learning about you, but it's also morphing and capturing a physical record of everywhere you've been and how you carry yourself in the world. The rest of the shoe is made from the highest quality materials — ethically sourced leather and an antimicrobial, micro-perforated lining. We've also designed a unique lace system, so it has a sleek silhouette that can merge with so many different aspects of your wardrobe.

What are some common misconceptions about footwear or sizing that you want to educate consumers on through IAMBIC’s practices?
I could go on for years about this topic but one is the idea that length and width only go so far when it comes to addressing shoe fit. When people think about shoe sizing, they often think about length, but length is not as helpful as one would think because shoes are designed to have a space between the tip of your toe and the tip of the toe box. That means that empty space differs based on your foot shape. I also think that when people think about shoe fit, they think, 'Why not just flip an insole in there?' Insoles play a very important role, but they don't even deal with the foundational issues around shoe fit that people think about, which are length and width. So if you're addressing length and width, and you're thinking about insoles as a solution, they don't even go together because insoles deal with a vertical volume.

How do you hope to continue bridging the gap between fashion and technology with your advancements and what does the future of fashion look like to you?
There's a lot of incredible technology right now involving fit prediction for clothing, shoes, and material innovation. But the factories have to be open to it and prepared for it. These materials need to be tested because longevity is important. We're currently working very hard to find strong leather alternatives, but at the end of the day, what's most sustainable is a product that lasts. Ultimately, to be sustainable, the best way of doing so is to have less product. Or higher quality product that's going to last longer. There needs to be readiness and openness on the part of the supply chain partners.

The future of fashion, to me, is driven based on data and what individuals want and what they feel. Fashion has been very much driven by those who set certain trends and those who align with those trends. But then there's a disconnect between that and what people actually are looking for comfort and fit-wise. I think the next footwear titan is going to be based on the data. And, ultimately, it's not just about foot data, it's also about fit feedback and building a very robust system that truly understands not just how shoes should fit, but how people want to feel. I don’t think any single brand will ever serve every need for a single person. And IAMBIC's goal is to build this network of other brands and other tastemakers who share our values and want to create shoes together with us. It's really about building this ecosystem of partners who want to leave a positive footprint, so to speak.

What's next for you guys? What do you hope to work on given this foundation that you've established?
We started with our flagship silhouette this year, our clean white sneaker with a red stripe. Now with the release of our black colorway, the next goal is going to be helping people find ways to integrate these seamlessly into their wardrobes. Moving forward, we want to experiment with other materials as well as more design. We started with sneakers because over 80% of Americans wear sneakers as their daily go-to shoe. But dress shoes and boots are easier to custom-fit. We're also looking at where the trends fit and what people want to wear these days to see if we can meet them where they are. I think we'll delve into dress shoes and potentially boots in the future, though our focus right now is creating beautiful dress sneakers that can be elevated wardrobe staples.

Article by Kayla Curtis-Evans, Contributing Sustainable Editor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Chenglin Qu, Graphic Design Intern, PhotoBook Magazine
*All images provided by IAMBIC Footwear.

IAMBIC Footwear Breaks the Mold