The assembly line at Feetz has 100 humming 3-D printers. Their sole purpose is to make shoes.
Each printer is named after a cartoon character: Wonder Woman, Scooby-Doo. Though whimsical, the printers, which cost $5,000 each, are out to upend mass retailing by making every shoe to order, cheaply.
“We’re the technologists coming in to help,” said Lucy Beard, chief executive of the two-year-old Feetz, in San Diego. “I saw 3-D printers in a magazine, and I thought ‘mass customization.’”
Image: Carly Nakayama checks on the 3-D printing process in the San Diego office of the tech cobbler company Feetz. Credit Tara Pixley for The New York Times
