Stepping into the shoes of a designer

Tag : shoes leather

But Ryz aims to make Ryzwear.com a place where sneakerheads, trendsetters, designers and earlyadopters visit frequently to design, discuss and rate footwear.
"The corporate design team is limited by its walls," saidLangstaff, who used contacts cultivated while at Adidas in Japan tolaunch Ryz. "The corporation shouldn't be dictating what theconsumer wears. The consumers should."
Here's how Ryz will do it. Each month, Ryz will post a differentstandardized shoe silhouette on its Web site (a high-top shoe and alow-top shoe will be Ryz's first two). Users can download thetemplate and, using Adobe Photoshop, illustrate or add imagesacross the shoe.
Site visitors can rate and comment on submissions. After a month, awinner will be declared and Ryz will order a run of the winningdesign — 100 pairs to start and 1,000 pairs by next year— from a contract manufacturer in China.
Two weeks after the contest ends, Ryz will sell the winning shoeson the Web. The retail price: $75 to $90 a pair.
Hall of Fame listing
In addition to the cash prize and royalties, winning designers alsowill get their profiles attached to each pair and a listing inRyzwear.com's Hall of Fame.
By 2012, Langstaff hopes to allow users to design the entire shoe,from the shape of the sole to the shape of the eyestay. He alsohopes to get into technical athleticwear. He expects to rely oncustomers to do most of his marketing.
"We think they will be really powerful evangelists because they'vegot a business incentive to get their friends to vote," Langstaffsaid. "Viral marketing is built in. You're treating the designer asa business partner, and he or she should be your businessadvocate."
Langstaff says Ryz's planned five-month production schedule willgive it a leg up on larger footwear companies that take 11 to 18months to produce a new style. "We can capitalize on trends beforecompetitors," he said. "We can be very nimble."
Ryz's model mimics Chicago-based Threadless.com , a successful T-shirt startup launched in 2000 by two collegedropouts.
Others have followed suit. Massachusetts-based Local-motors.com is even trying to crowdsource custom automobiles.
Ryzwear.com's community page includes an artists panel that willcomment on designs. Langstaff hired former Nike Jordan Brandpublicist Theresa Tran to find "trendsetters" for the panel, whichhe hopes will lend legitimacy to the site and lure othersneakerheads and fashion followers.
Among Langstaff's consultants is Mikal Peveto, a former Adidas andFila footwear executive who started design-your-own shoe siteCustomatix in 2000. Peveto believes Ryzwear can succeed whereCustomatix failed because consumers today are more comfortableinteracting and purchasing online from less-established companies.
"Our timing wasn't great. We couldn't get people to buy becausethey didn't trust the brand," Peveto said. "Now is a completelydifferent time than in 2000 because there are so many differentbrands that are valid."
Outside investors have been somewhat cool to Langstaff's idea, andit still has much to prove to its consumers.
It must attract an online community without using traditionaladvertising or appearing too corporate, lest it turn offbig-brand-weary trendsetters. And its Web site and design toolsmust be sophisticated enough to satisfy its tech-savvy audience.
"I think the business will evolve as they learn," said EricRosenfeld, principal with Portland-based Capybara Ventures. "Thecompetition may not be what people get excited about. It might bethat for the first time in my life I can design the graphics on myshoe."
Rosenfeld said investors have been cool to Ryz because they see itnot as a runaway financial success but more as a slow-growingbusiness that will provide its founders with a good living.
"Similar businesses, many of them don't turn into giants,"Rosenfeld said. "Even Threadless isn't that large."
Langstaff begs to differ. Though he's coy about how he will makeshoes so quickly, calling his arrangements a trade secret, hethinks Ryz will live up to its name.
"This concept of social networking and crowdsourcing is in thetrendsetter and early-adopter phase," Langstaff said. "It willbecome more and more the normal way of doing business. When itbecomes mainstream, that automatically means it becomes big."