When I first started out, I knew very little about the shoe business. All I knew was that the boots had to fit differently from the vast majority of boots out there. It seemed simple. I remember thinking that it was completely reasonable to have a working prototype before the end of the year (I started in February 2024). I also thought it was within reason that I could launch a Kickstarter and start selling to the general public within a year.
Well, it wasn’t that easy. I found that everything takes longer than you hope when building a footwear brand.
Despite not being a straightforward, simple, or easy process, I am very happy with how the boots have turned out from this very first concept sketch in February 2024:
From there, I knew I had to find a high-quality factory and a superb designer. I scoured the
internet trying to figure out how to source both.
I came across what is called a turnkey manufacturer on Kickstarter. They handle engineering, prototyping, raw material procurement, assembly, quality control, and shipping. They are essentially like an agent, with boots on the ground in China (pun intended).
I had originally hoped to manufacture anywhere but China, because of tariffs and quality concerns. But when I discovered Morpho MFG, the turnkey manufacturer on Kickstarter’s website, I decided to book a discovery call.
I liked that the founder and several other employees were American, which meant I could communicate clearly with the team. I liked that they handled everything from sourcing to shipping, and I felt I could trust them since Kickstarter recommended their services. I had heard nightmare stories about factories ripping off naive entrepreneurs, and I was determined not to be one of them.
So I decided to hire them to bring my concept into reality.
I did know, however, that I wanted to find a designer who had worked with barefoot shoes to design my boots. I didn’t want to have to educate the designer, and I wanted them to speak fluent English.
I found Mark Britton on Upwork. His portfolio was incredible, and I knew he had to be the one to design the boots. Even though I was flabbergasted by his cost, I was blown away by the quality of his work. He had a glowing review from the managing director at Xero Shoes Europe, and so I forked over the money and have never regretted a single cent of it since.
After I shared my ideas, he worked to produce more refined concept sketches. We further refined
the idea from there, eventually landing on the following design that I took to Morpho MFG:
Then, Morpho MFG found an industrial designer in China to produce the 3D design-for manufacturing files. I was able to save money that way, rather than hiring an American to create the DFM files.
It was not an easy process, as that designer did not have experience with barefoot shoes. I thought he’d just take the 2D design files and turn them into 3D.
Oh, the naiveté.
He added a heel and narrowed the toe box, and I found myself wondering why I had even hired the 2D designer in the first place. But I stuck with it, advocating for what I knew the boots needed to be, and eventually, nearly two years later, I got a working prototype that looks very similar to the boots in the 2D design files.