Principle of Structure Design for Leather Shoe Uppers

Author: Gao Shigang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-09-01
Features: Putting on shoes and clothes is essential for humans. As clothing evolved, shoes also underwent various changes. Whether in terms of structure, shape, style, material, color, or decoration, each historical period had its representative shoes. Examples include grass sandals, hemp shoes, wooden clogs, leather shoes, as well as barefoot sandals, shin guards, leather boots, and embroidered shoes, all of which once shone in their own time.
Leather shoe design is a planning process before producing leather shoes. Early leather shoe design involved the method of measuring feet to make shoes. After the invention of shoe lasts, the method of making shoes based on lasts emerged. Through long-term accumulation of experience, traditional empirical design methods gradually formed. With the development of science and technology, especially through the measurement of human foot shapes, and based on mastering the patterns of foot shape changes, flat design methods have been established in recent years. Today, with the advancement of high technology, computer-aided design has further driven leather shoe design. At the same time, design methods from foreign countries, such as the British method and the Italian method, have been continuously introduced into China. Currently, there are various popular design methods, especially some of them are divided into many schools due to differences in operators' techniques, habits, and requirements.
Facing numerous design methods, how should one learn them? Beginners often have the desire to master all methods, while technically skilled designers hope to find the best design method. However, in reality, it is often beyond reach.
The book "Principles of Leather Shoe Upper Structure Design" attempts to find the commonality in various design methods, that is, the so-called "different methods, principles." In the chapter on leather shoe structure design principles, it introduces the principles of selecting lasts, determining design points, replicating last side patterns, the cross-tongue principle, the principles of upper structure design drawing, and the principles of upper pattern making. Among them, the cross-tongue principle is a new concept. Through the analysis of positioning tongue, alignment tongue, and conversion tongue, one can gain a fresh understanding of the tongue. The tongue plays a pivotal role in upper structure design. Once the tongue principle is mastered, the patterns of tongue methods are also mastered, and when designing uppers, one can become skillful and achieve effortless results.
Before mastering design methods, one should first grasp the design principles. This is because design principles are the core of design methods, and different design methods are merely different means to achieve design goals. For example, when using computers for design, the tool is the electronic computer, and the design method is completed through inputting and outputting certain programs to generate design drawings. The design principles are the same as those of manual design.
The replica design method introduced in this book is developed based on the cross-tongue principle. By directly starting with design principles to design upper structures, the design process is greatly simplified, making the method more convenient, practical, accurate, and easy to understand. Through the analysis of finished product structure diagrams and the drawing of upper structure diagrams, the design task is completed. The replica design method has become increasingly perfect through repeated practice in teaching and production over the past ten years. The hundreds of examples listed in this book are all arranged around the cross-tongue principle and the replica design method.