Parents of growing children now that taking care of a young one isn’t cheap. These kids grow out of their clothes and shoes in a matter of months, weeks for some. For others, they’re lucky enough to get hand-me-downs from older siblings and friends.
Unfortunately, most parents are forced to buy brand new items for their little ones. And while it’s not a problem for some, those who are trying to save on money find themselves strapped for cash because of unexpected expenses.
So, for those who don’t have kids, they need to know that they need at least 15 pairs of shoes for a child to grow starting from a toddler into a teenager. That’s a lot of dollars to spend.
An Indian entrepreneur from Pune saw how this was a problem, which is why he has designed a line of shoes that slowly uncurl as the child grows. This pair is able to solve the problem that has been pestering parents since time immemorial while, at the same time, lower manufacturing waste that the world no longer needs.
The latest line of expanding shoes is called Aretto and these were designed by Satyajit Mittal and his childhood friend Krutika Lal. These innovative knitted uppers come with all the features every parent would want their kids’ shoes to come with: durability, flexibility, and washability.
“Children do not wear the right shoes for the first ten years of their lives,” Mittal, the man who was responsible for designing the Aretto shoes with the help of the consultations he got from childhood podiatrists, told The Better India.
“Between zero and three years of age, children’s feet size changes every three months, and you need roughly 15 sizes between zero and nine, before attaining final foot size at 13 years. We figured out the problem that while feet grow, their shoes do not.”
The podiatrists had several concerns, but were more than happy to help. They explained to him that children generally have a broader footprint. That’s because they haven’t worn shoes for most of their lives like many of us. Their feet have tens of thousands of nerve endings that give the body feedback needed for them to understand the proper use of the amazing musculature found in their feet so that they are able to properly walk and run.
Most shoes designed for kids don’t consider this kind of need. They know this simply by looking at how frequent parents need to buy new shoe sizes for their young ones. They need one that comes with proper foot function. Hence, Aretto was designed to take everything into account. That’s because parents often have to forcefully stuff their toddler’s feet into shoes that are either too small or too large. This is a big issue because according to the experts, this can already disrupt critical and proper muscle development that’s needed.
“We wanted to give children the right fit for all cycles. We chose one shoe to cover three sizes that allow 18 mm growth. We took inspiration from how a flower blooms from the bud stage to the fully-flowered stage. The transition happens organically every day. We applied this concept to the shoe,” Mittal said.
“We started working on a shoe that flexes as per the feet. Simply put, as and when the feet grow either from the front or back or sideways, and when a child wears this shoe, it expands accordingly and takes the shape and contour of their feet. That’s why children feel comfortable wearing such shoes,” he added.
The shoes come in a variety of prices. If you looked at how much these cost, you’d see that these are sold for Rs1,800 to Rs 2,600 which ranges from $22 to $31. This is actually quite reasonable and very affordable considering how much you get to actually save. The shoes are also available internationally. What’s needed from the international buyers are the following: an account in an Indian bank, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, or WhatsApp Pay. This means that the shoes are easy to purchase.
The brand of shoes are fairly new on the market, but these have already generated 21 lakh, or Rs 2.1 million ($25,000) in revenue from many of their happy customers.
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