Spanish cave drawings from more than 15000 years ago show humans

with animal skins or furs wrapped around their feet. The body of a well
preserved ice-man nearly 5000 years old wears leather foot stuffed with straw.
Shoes, in some form or another, have been around for a very long time. The
evolution of foot coverings, from the sandal to present-day athletic shoes that are
marvels of engineering, continues even today as we find new materials with
which to cover our feet.
We are, in fact still wearing sandals- the oldest crafted foot covering
known to us. Moccasins are still readily available in the form of the loafer. In
fact, many of the shoes we wear today can be traced back to another era. The
Cuban heel may have been named for the dance craze of the 1920s, but the shape
can be seen long before that time. Soles, which are one of the most recognizable
features of footwear in the 1970s and 1990s, were handed down to us from 16th
century choppiness. Then, high soles were a necessity to keep the feet off of the
dirty streets. Today they are worn strictly for fashions sake.
If one can deduce that basic shoe shapes have evolved only so much, it is
necessary to discover why this has happened. It is surely not due to a lack of
imagination- the colors and materials of shoes today demonstrate that. Looking
at shoes from different parts of the world, one can see undeniable similarities.
While the venetians were wearing the choppiness, the Japanese balanced on
high-soled wooden shoes called get. Though the shape is slightly different, the
idea remains the same. The venetians had no contacts with the Japanese, so it is
not a case of imitation. Even the mystical Chinese practice of foot binding has
been copied in our culture. Some European women and men of the past bound
their feet with tape and squashed them into too-tight shoes. In fact, a survey from
the early 1990s reported that 88% of American wear shoes that are too small!
As one examines footwear history, both in the west and in other parts of
the world, the similarities are apparent. Though the shoemakers of the past never
would have thought to pair a sandal with a platform sole, our shoe fashions of
today are, for the most part, modernized adaptations of past styles.

PERFORMANCE OF INDIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY

The foot wear industry is a significant segment of the leather industry in
India. India ranks second among the footwear producing countries next to the
China.
In 1999, the global import of footwear in terms of value was around
US$43278 million accounting a share of 63.42% in the total global import of
leather and leather products out of this import of leather footwear alone
accounted for us$26379 million and non leather foot wear US$16899million.
Indias exports of leather footwear touched US$331 million in 1999-2000,
recording an increase of 3.29% over the preceding year. India thus holds a share
of 1.25% in the global import of leather footwear. The major markets were the
UK, USA, France, Italy, Russia, etc.
In 1999-2000, export of leather footwear from India contributes 21% share
of its total export of leather and its products. Nearly 33 million pairs of various
types of leather footwear were exported during the year. It includes dress shoes,
casuals, sport shoes, etc.

INDIAN FOOTWEAR COMPONENTS INDUSTRY

The footwear component industry is a segment of leather industry in

India. The footwear components which are exported from India are leather shoe
upper and leather unit soles. The estimated annual production capacity of leather
shoe uppers is 112 million pairs. The major production centers are Chennai,
Ranipet, Agra, Tamilnadu, etc.
The component industry has enormous opportunities for growth to cater to
increasing production of footwear of various type, both for export and domestic
market.
Nearly 75% of total export of footwear component is from the southern
region followed by northern region with a share of 13%.
Nearly 83% of the Indias export of footwear component is from the UK,
Germany, Italy, USA, France and Portugal.