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Understanding Footwear Labels and Symbols

Ever look at that label on your shoe and wonder what all those symbols are supposed to mean? Whatapair.com would like to provide you with some shoe label education and information. Shoe labels are becoming more important to many consumers due to personal preferences such as durability, comfort, and social or political conscience.

The shoe label will provide you with all the information for the materials used to construct your shoe. There should be two labels on your shoes. The first label tells you the origin of the manufacturing. This label is a requirement of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.

The second label is a breakdown of the construction of the shoe. That shoe label is divided into two columns and each column has three categories. The left column is the three parts of the shoe and the right column shows the materials used for the part. Below we have taken this label and broken down the categories and provided the definitions.

Shoe Symbols - indicated on left-hand side of label
	Upper: This is the part of the shoe that you are initially attracted to, the part that you can see.
	Lining and Sock: This is the inside of the shoe, the part that provides you with the comfort and support that you desire.
	Outer Sole or outsole: This is the bottom of the shoe, which will show on the bottom part of the shoe but the main function is to protect your foot from the ground below.
Materials Symbols - indicated on right-hand side of label
Leather: This is the hide or skin from an animal that has been put through a process called tanning. There are many types of leather and that is an educational page all in itself.
Coated Leather: This is one of the processes of treating leather; basically the leather is coated with one of a variety of products for the desired look.
Textile: This means fabric, the list is endless. This is one of the symbols the vegans, vegetarians and eco-friendly consumers look for because it means all natural or man made materials are used for the construction.
Other Materials: This is still man-made materials just a little different because these materials usually refer to the sole of the shoe. The most common of these materials are Thermoplastic Rubber, PVC, Rubber Compounds, Crepe, and Composition. All of these materials are friendly for the Vegan, Vegetarian and Eco-Friendly consumer.