For 96 years and counting, Jones & Vining has partnered with leading footwear brands to supply lasts for perfect fit, comfort, and performance. It amounts to billions of pairs worn by consumers around the world. Now the Brockton, MA–based company is taking that mission up a notch with a partnership with Heeluxe, a Santa Barbara, CA, company known for its SmartLab Testing that uses pressure sensors for quantifying fit and provides data-verified analysis, helping brands make better shoes, reduce product risk, and deliver measurable improvements in consumer satisfaction. The partnership is designed to bring the industry perfect fit faster, better, easier, and data verified.
“This partnership takes testing from good to great through data verification that will enable us to make the precise adjustments to the last quicker and more effectively,” says Jim Salzano, president and CEO of Jones & Vining, noting that conventional testing relies on human fit trails and wear tests. “SmartLast adds accuracy, speed, and consistency to the fit testing process, especially when done early in the development process. It makes it easier to determine if a fit issue is from last specifications, upper materials, or upper patterns.”
Data verified is the difference maker, notes Dr. Geoffrey Gray, CEO and founder, Heeluxe. “Verified data matters because footwear fit decisions should be based on objective measurement, not subjective opinion,” he explains. “When fit data is validated against a large database of comparable products, brands can develop their shoes with far greater confidence.” Gray adds that having locations across the world will extend Jones & Vining’s reach to help brands deliver better fit to market faster.
Speaking of speed to market, Jones & Vining clients will have exclusive access to SmartLast Testing in its U.S. and Vietnam offices, which will reduce unnecessary delays due to shipping samples to Santa Barbara. Launching at this month’s Materials Show in Portland, OR, SmartLast Testing is currently available in Jones & Vining’s Innovation and Development Studio, also in Portland, and will be added to its offices in West Bridgewater, MA, and Dong Nai, Vietnam, this year.
Salzano says the partnership also aligns with the big shift to DTC selling. In this environment, he notes, the selling floor is often the consumer’s home, and consistent fit is essential not only to closing the sale but to creating consumer loyalty and repeat buying. “Integrating the Jones & Vining last development process and SmartLast fit testing is an unprecedented combination that brings science and art together and enables brands to achieve better and consistent fit,” Salzano says, adding “Jones & Vining’s heritage is obsessed with fit, and working alongside Heeluxe will help our wholesale customers enjoy their greatest success.”
The post Jones & Vining and Heeluxe Join Forces appeared first on Footwear Plus Magazine.
