News

Elite golfers benefit from custom footwear and additions like orthotics. Golf Digest featured Heeluxe’s recent work with Travis Mathew/Cuater golf shoes and PGA World #1 ranked golfer Jon Rahm. This collaboration resulted in Jon’s newest shoes which help optimize his performance during his exceptional 2023 season.

Congratulations to the team at Hoka for the multi-year project to build their best carbon plated racing shoe, the Rocket X2.   Heeluxe’s testing helped the Hoka team in multiple ways: -Compare the previous generation Rocket X to top competitors in the market -Identify what features of the Rocket X2 samples perform best -Confirm the…

Improving the comfort of fashion and dress shoes is easy if you have the right data. This short video highlights to 2 keys to improving comfort in these popular styles of footwear.

Portland, Oregon–See you in 1 week at NW Materials Show! We’ve already booked many in person SmartLast demos and shoe testing meetings. Message me if you want to meet up at the show. Thanks to Hisham Muhareb for keeping this wonderful event going. The NW Materials Show is always great for exploring new footwear tech,…

Most footwear brands don’t know how their running shoe length compares to their competitors. Requests have poured in for comparison of length for the top running brands in the US. SmartLast’s database is a fast and accurate way to compare lengths. Length is measured in 2 ways–empty space in front of the toes, or total…

Shoe Fit February is the BEST time to kick off your integration of SmartLast into your product development. Email [email protected] to learn more and sign up before this deal runs out.  

Heeluxe is always raising the bar for footwear testing and in 2023 we have exciting new features for all footwear brands. This short video highlights the top 5 features we’re excited to bring to the shoe world in 2023: -Brand Average Fit -Fit Consistency -Milage Forecasting -Rocker Profile -New Reports

Heeluxe Wrapped 2022 is our opportunity to share the shoes that set high performance benchmarks in our lab this year. Our hope is that this encourages brands to test against the best shoes, regardless of what type of shoe they make. This blog will share the winners from each category and provide more details on…

The Drop Podcast from the team at Believe in the Run recently featured the Heeluxe research team to discuss all things related to running shoe research. Thomas dug into questions about what it takes to create great footwear, women’s specific shoes, carbon plated super shoes (of course!), what is coming in the future of running…

Is Heeluxe the first footwear testing lab to be mentioned in Cosmopolitan magazine? It does not matter because we appreciate the recognition by one of the biggest and most recognizable magazines in the world. Additional thanks to Haley Pavone, founder of Pashion Footwear, for this glowing review of her footwear line. Haley first came to…

“How are other brands using SmartLast for footwear development?” is one of the most commonly asked questions from brands when they see SmartLast for the first time. This post shares the details on how you can use the fast and accurate shoe fit feedback from SmartLast to improve your own product development. During product development…

  Quality footwear requires consistency, and footwear brands make major efforts to improve consistency in their production lines, branding, and even online experience. But how consistent is your fit testing? If you gave your fit testers the same shoe every month for a year and asked for their feedback, would they always provide the exact…

How different is the fit between your waterproof and non-waterproof boots? This is a very common question that brands ask and SmartLast answers. In this video we compare the fit of a top selling hiking boot in its regular (non-waterproof) condition and its waterproof version. The fit changes may surprise you–check out the video to…

What are the benefits to your customers when a shoe fits better? Most of the talk around shoe fit is based on returns (which is great) but there is a bigger goal to having better shoe fit: your customers will find your shoes more comfortable! Comfort is important for every footwear category and in this…

The most common question asked about SmartLast is, “How does it compare to Human Fit Feedback?” In this short video we share the feedback from different brands that have tested with SmartLast over the past week. It turns out that SmartLast data is very similar to human feedback, with one major exception. Watch the video…

One of the biggest challenges in fit testing is making sure your tester gives the same feedback today as they did 3 months ago. Consistency is key. In this video we show how SmartLast provides consistent and accurate date for a brand comparing a sample from 3 months ago to a new sample this week.…

Everyone wants to know how other footwear brands are utilizing SmartLast technology. Every week Heeluxe is sharing our SmartLast Success Stories with you. In these videos you’ll learn with us as data from SmartLast helps brands make better fitting shoes. Each video will be less than 90 seconds since you would be able to test…

Footwear brands need fast answers about shoe fit to stay efficient and competitive in today’s footwear market. Relying on subjective feedback in the factory, brand office, or retail store takes too much time and fails to clearly identify the fit issues with a shoe style. SmartLast is now available to all footwear brands to be…

Years of effort in preaching the importance of shoe fit to improve customer comfort and foot health is catching on, with Runner’s World featuring Dr Gray in a new article on the benefits of shoe fit. While the article is geared towards runners, the lessons are true for anyone that wears shoes: -proper shoe fit…

What a great surprise and honor to be featured in Runners World China’s article on running shoe fit! You could say Heeluxe is big in China, but we definitely have more work to do with our friends in Asian footwear manufacturing, design, and retail. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with Runner’s World here in the…

Thank you to all of the footwear professionals from around the world that joined Heeluxe for our Successful Strategies Post-Coronavirus Webinar on Tuesday May 19, 2020 where we focused on how to ‘win’ with ecommerce. Many of you followed up with us to ask great questions, provide insight into how you’re going to use the…

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has negatively impacted shoe retail sales (even in Canada where you’ve handled this so much better than us!). Heeluxe wants to help our footwear partners find ways to thrive in the current environment by leveraging our shoe database to improve your online shoe sales. I’ve created a powerful webinar that…

We’re celebrating the magical “double digit” 10th birthday of Heeluxe. Looking back on the past 10 years brings up many emotions (many of which are familiar to other entrepreneurs) and the one that stands out the most is gratitude. So many amazing footwear brands have trusted Heeluxe with testing their shoes, providing recommendations, and developing…

Heeluxe is focused on providing women with the best possible experience in their shoes. This mission’s impact on the the entire world of footwear is increasingly visible. 2020 is the year to improve your womens shoe fit. If your brand hasn’t started with this goal now is the best time to get started. A recent…

At Heeluxe we encourage footwear brands to have a laser focus on who is their target customer and what is the activity they are going to do in their shoes. Fortunately, the team at Livestrong and writer Cindy Kuzma understand this and wrote a great article on the differences between walking shoes and cross training…

In 2019 Heeluxe gave a presentation at the Footwear Innovation Summits in Los Angeles, USA, and Donguan, China, titled The Future of Footwear Testing. 100s of people were in the audience for both presentations and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The Heeluxe team put in weeks of work to make certain that the visuals were…

Fit is the #1 problem customers complain about in their shoes and the world famous Runners World Magazine used the expertise of Dr Gray and the Heeluxe team on a new article about getting the best fitting running shoes. We’re always happy to share the knowledge we’ve gained over the last 5 years of sensor-based…

FMNii and their Footwear Innovation Summits (FIS) have given Heeluxe a venue to share our experience and knowledge with a wide variety of footwear industry innovators from all over the globe. In 2019, Dr Gray was not only selected as a presenter for the event but also as the Host of the Los Angeles,USA, and…

Heeluxe has been growing so quickly in the past 3 years that we needed to remodel our office to handle all of the testing! From November 2018-January 2019 we increased our storage capacity to securely manage all of our test shoes, increased our number of work stations for staff to maintain peak efficiency, created a…

Heeluxe is passionate about creating better shoes for everyone in the world. We work on this mission by completing research studies in 2 weeks or less and making sure these research reports are valuable to the footwear brands that request them. In 2018 we set out to work with more footwear brands, increase the number…

On October 2, 2018, Heeluxe will be featured at the Footwear Innovation Summit at the Hotel Indigo in Los Angeles. This event features well know speakers in the footwear industry with topics ranging from 3D Printing and Design to Machine Learning. Dr Geoffrey Alan Gray, DPT, from Heeluxe will present on new testing that helps…

Silicon Valley is not typically a hub for footwear but Dr Gray will bring the shoe magic on November 14, 2018 when he speaks about creating usable wearable technology at ID Tech Ex in Santa Clara. The title of the talk is “Creating Wearable Tech That Customers Want and Will Use for a Long Time”…

A recent article by Jonathan Beverly in RunningInsight magazine dove into the topic of flexibility of running shoes and featured quotes from Heeluxe founder Dr Geoffrey Alan Gray. This article provides insight into the trend of stiffer running shoes that was started by the Nike Vaporfly 4%. In addition to the comments from Dr. Gray,…

Heeluxe and Sensoria are elated to bring the SizeSnap® Smart Sensor Sock to the world of footwear. For many years footwear brands did not have a reliable way to quantify shoe fit. Guessing about shoe fit or relying on subjective feedback created many ‘footwear failures’ due to poor fit, inadequate cushioning, or a generally uncomfortable…

Over 3 years ago Ecco began a project with Heeluxe to bring customized 3D printed shoes to market. This ambitious project was expected to take much longer than Heeluxe’s 2 week standard. We loved the innovative spirit of the Ecco team and were happy to join them on this journey. Moreover, we have a firm…

The Heeluxe team started 2017 with a goal: to complete over 100 shoe tests in the year. By December 31 we completed 105 tests in the calendar year. More importantly, all research studies were completed on time and we have many satisfied clients.Here’s more fun facts from 2017: 105 studies completed 43 different footwear brands…

UCSB is known worldwide for their exceptional engineering program. Heeluxe and UCSB have now partnered under the Capstone program to create new footwear technologies and footwear testing machines. Heeluxe began working with the Capstone program in 2016 as students were working on a novel invention to help prevent trip and fall injuries for people with…

Famous running journalist, Jonathan Beverly, release his new book today: YOUR BEST STRIDE. This book dispels the myths about running and running technique and focuses on what we know from research and years of experience. Readers of this book will find the “who’s who” of running shoe science including: Benno Nigg, Simon Bartold, Craig Payne,…

The team at Heeluxe is working hard on making major upgrades our proprietary Shoe Fit Measurement sensors. One development that we are working on is developing a sock with sensors embedded in it that will make getting on-body shoe fit measurements as easy as putting on a sock and turning on an app. We are…

  Footwear companies have been asking for a test that quickly and accurately replicates how shoes break down in the real world. After 3 years of development Heeluxe created a Time Machine, letting you see how your shoes will look and perform in the future. The is the most realistic shoe durability testing machine currently…

At Heeluxe, we know that footwear brands love how quickly we can provide them with results for shoe studies. Our standard of “2 weeks or less” for accurate research study results cannot be matched, and that is why footwear brands have trusted Heeluxe with 53 shoe research studies in the first 9 months of 2016.…

In the September 2016 issue of Shape Magazine, Dr. Geoffrey Gray from Heeluxe was featured in their article, “Supercharge Your Stride.” This article focuses on how to pick out the running shoes that are the best for you, when to replace your shoes, and how strong feet are essential for healthy lifestyles. This is Heeluxe’s…

Dr Geoffrey Alan Gray from Heeluxe was recently featured in a CBS Pulse article on how to invest in technology for small businesses. Since Heeluxe has been self funded since day 1, we did not have the luxury of a large investment to buy all of the best technology. Smart purchasing, listening to what technologies…

Heeluxe began a Shoe Database in 2012 in order to understand what characteristics make the best performing shoes. The Database recently grew to over 600 pairs of shoes and covers styles of shoes as diverse as high heels, gym training shoes running styles, and sandals. Each shoe in our Database has “static measurements”–including weight and…

Heeluxe built a Time Machine. We are able to take footwear companies quickly into the future, allowing them to see what their shoes look and perform like after months or year of wear. Our new device started out in concept phase over 3 years ago when one of our clients was asking for us to…

Heeluxe continues to use its’ unique system of efficient biomechanics research to start and finish 8 footwear studies in January 2016. This is our fastest start to the testing year ever. We were aided by excellent Santa Barbara weather which allowed our run through testing to happen every week (sorry to our friends in cold/wet…

Heeluxe started and finished 63 footwear and biomechanics studies in 2015. This is a huge increase over 2014 and represents the hard work of the Heeluxe staff and the increased number of brands we work with. Heeluxe also made numerous improvements to our facility to ensure that our testing is always completed on time and…

Set your clocks, calendars, watches, Tivo, DVR, and Siri to remind you to watch HSN on Tuesday, October 27 to see the brand new Revitalign footwear on HSN, featuring the footwear designed and tested at Heeluxe!  

We are honored and flattered that Investors Business Daily (IBD) used quotes from Heeluxe founder Dr. Geoffrey Gray in their recent article on how to successfully launch a start up. The quotes and content are early in the article so you cannot miss the great content! http://news.investors.com/management-leaders-and-success/091715-771538-expert-work-tips-for-business-entrepreneurs.htm

Business websites do not get much bigger than Forbes.com.   You can imagine our excitement to have an interview to be featured in a Forbes.com article! Thanks to Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle for including Heeluxe and Dr. Gray in this great article on forming great business habits to grow your business. Heeluxe would never achieve its success…