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Technology

Tailor-printed shoes will offer a perfect fit

By Duncan Graham-Rowe

8 February 2006

A MANUFACTURING process that can print you a pair of bespoke shoes could put an end to ill-fitting footwear and help usher in an era of mass customisation.

The tailored shoes are built layer by layer using a form of rapid 3D printing called selective laser sintering, in which a laser fuses together particles of a nylon-based material (New Scientist, 4 June 2005, p 26).

Initially the system will be used to make shoes for professional sportspeople such as British Premiership soccer players, says Greg Lever-O’Keefe, creative director and co-founder of Prior 2 Lever (P2L), the London-based company launching…

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