如果鞋子不合腳就自己設計一雙

    [1]EVEN for the most dedicated shopper, finding just the right pair of shoes can be elusive. A store-to-store search — whether on the Web or at the mall — can take hours. Shoppers may think they’ve found the perfect pair, only to be stymied by a problem with fit, style or color.

　　[2]It’s not that retailers don’t try, as the huge shoe sections in department stores and Web sites attest. But for those with very individual or exacting tastes — and with money to spare — some Internet retailers offer design-it-yourself options in footwear. Customization is more common with athletic shoes, but fashion footwear is beginning to catch up.

　　[3]Makers like Vans and Nike are among the companies that offer customized shoes, allowing both women and men to create their own look from existing styles, colors and materials.

　　[4]Cale Valdez, a college student in Huntington, Calif., went to to find a memorable look for his wedding last month. He designed some red and black canvas slip-ons for the wedding party, including matching lace-ups for his father-in-law. “My groomsmen had black tuxes and red vests, so we thought it would look great to have red shoes,” he said of the slip-ons, which cost $40 a pair.

　　[5], which attracts almost as many women as men, has customers who order hundreds of pairs. The hip-hop disc jockey known as Clark Kent, of Brooklyn, has designed 350 pairs of shoes on the site. “The biggest attraction is the ability to shock,” he said. “You want a pair that people notice so they ask you: ‘Where did you get those?’”

　　[6]While customized sneakers are available on many athletic shoe Web sites, fashion shoes are harder, although not impossible, to find.

　　[7]For women who are willing to spend a hefty sum, there is Tupli. “This is ideal for the woman who can imagine the perfect shoe but can’t find it,” said Kathy Myczowski, 34. She went into the individual shoe design business with Tamara Chubinidze, 26, who is from the Republic of Georgia, where such shoemaking is more prevalent and where Tupli’s shoes are made.

　　[8]Amolyn Peart, a banking manager who has purchased three pairs of shoes from the company, became intrigued with the idea after spotting a woman wearing Tupli footwear (a name derived from the Russian word for shoe) at a business gathering.

　　[9]“The shoes were so gorgeous and unusual, so I immediately asked her where she got them,” said Ms. Peart, of West Orange, N.J. Like many people, she is hard to fit: her shoe size is between and 9, and ready-made shoes are often too tight in the toe.

　　[10]Tupli’s clients — who include the actress Susan Sarandon — have a choice of leather and suede, as well as embellishments like rhinestones and personal logos, and initials on the upper or even on the sole, said Ms. Myczowski.

　　[11]The first made-to-measure Tupli shoe that Ms. Peart designed for herself was a black and red pump for an event at work. “Everyone noticed it, especially because they were all wearing black shoes,” she recalled. Since then, she has ordered another pair of shoes and a pair of boots.

　　[12]Prices for Tupli shoes start at a hefty $750 for shoes and $1,450 for boots, and customers must wait six to eight weeks for them.

　　[13]Those who want a less expensive made-to-order shoe that won’t take as long to arrive can turn to Steven Madden, founder of the company, says more than 100,000 pairs of design-your-own shoes have been sold through the site, where the prices range from $90 to $170.

　　[14]That’s what Robert Klemm, 27, a loan officer in Bethpage, N.Y., did last summer after he learned about Steve Madden Ltd.’s “Design Your Own Collection.” A shoe aficionado — he owns 60 pairs — he wanted to create some shoes to surprise his girlfriend, Kate Feehan, for her birthday.

　　[15]Starting with her size, 9, he clicked through the site to select a style, heel and color, putting together a navy gingham open-toe pump with a cork heel and sole that Mr. Klemm thought “would look good with everything from jeans to dresses.”

　　[16]He spent $150 plus shipping and tax. The site charges a 20 percent premium for made-to-order shoes, which are assembled in China and are not returnable. The turnaround time is three weeks, according to the site.

　　[17]RIGHT now, has almost no online competition. But Jeffrey Van Sinderen, apparel analyst for B. Riley & Company in Los Angeles, predicted that other makers would not be far behind, despite the large investment needed to set up a factory to make the shoes and a system to distribute them.

　　[18]Made-to-order shoes are profitable, he said, and “it answers the question of how you make the product more compelling to the consumer, and that’s to give them the power to design it.”

　　[19]In shoes, passion often trumps the practical. To Mary A. Johnson, 22, online design is about owning something unique. Ms. Johnson, a student at West Los Angeles College, owns 200 pairs of shoes, but that didn’t stop her from going to recently to design some ballet flats in a purple shade and trimming them in red. “This is something you make yourself,” she said, “instead of settling for what’s out there.”

　　參考譯文：

　　[1]即使對最熱衷購物的人而言，要找到一雙合腳的鞋也并非易事。無論在網上還是商場，一家挨一家的鞋店尋覓都非常花時間。購物者可能覺得他們已¾¬找到了理想的鞋，但其大小、款式或顏色則可能不太合適。

　　[2]這并不是因為零售商沒有盡力，商場里大量的鞋柜與網上鞋店可證明這點。但針對那些對于鞋子有自己獨特與苛刻要求并且有錢的購物者，一些網上零售商則提供了可自行設計的選擇。運動鞋的定做可能更為普遍，但現在，時裝鞋的定做業務也開始興起。

　　[3]萬斯與耐克等制鞋商提供鞋類定做業務，不論男女都可根據現有款式、顏色與材質創造出他們自己的式樣。

　　[4]加利福尼亞亨廷頓的大學生¿¬爾•瓦爾德斯為他上月舉辦的婚禮，曾在萬斯網站找到了一雙具有紀念意義的鞋。他為自己的婚宴設計了一些紅黑相間的帆布休閑鞋，包括為他岳父準備的一雙配套的系帶鞋。“我的伴郎則穿黑色晚禮服與紅色馬甲，所以我們都感覺穿上紅鞋一定會很棒。”他所說的休閑鞋一雙要40美元。

　　[5]吸引了大量男女顧客的耐克網站也有很多顧客定做了成百雙鞋。布魯克林的嘻哈音樂節目主持人克À¬克•肯特就在此網站上設計了350雙鞋。他說：“最大吸引力在于能給人帶來震撼的感覺，你想要一雙能夠引起人們注意的鞋子，人們見了就會問你：‘是在哪里買的?’”

　　[6]定做運動鞋在很多運動鞋網站上都能找到，但要找到時裝鞋則較為困難，盡管不是沒有可能。

　　[7]對于那些愿意花重金的女士來說，她們可以去圖布里。“對于那些能想象出完美之鞋卻又找不到的女士來說，這里是理想之所，”34歲的¿¬茜•米茨奧沃斯基說。她與26歲的塔瑪À¬•查比尼德茲一同創辦了個人鞋業設計業務。塔瑪À¬來自喬治亞共和國，在那里定做鞋的業務更為普遍，圖布里的鞋就是在那里制作的。

　　[8]銀行¾¬理艾默琳•皮爾特曾從該公司購買過3雙鞋，在一次商業聚會上看到一位婦女穿著圖布里(源于俄語“鞋的”單詞)鞋之后，便對這個主意很感興趣。

　　[9]“這些鞋看起來如此漂亮而且與眾不同，所以我立即問她是在哪里買的，”來自新澤西州西奧蘭治的皮爾特女士說。就像很多人一樣，她也很難找到合腳的鞋：她的鞋碼在與9之間，通常成鞋穿起來在腳趾處都比較緊。

　　[10]米茨奧沃斯基女士說，圖布里的客戶，包括女演員蘇珊•薩À¬頓，可選擇皮鞋或絨面革鞋，也可選擇人造鉆石與印在鞋面或鞋底的個人標識或姓名首字母等裝飾。

　　[11]皮爾特女士為自己設計的第一雙鞋是工作活動時穿的黑紅相間的無帶平跟女鞋。“每個人都注意到了我的鞋，因為他們穿的鞋都是黑色的，”她回憶道。從那時起，她又定做了一雙鞋與一雙靴子。

　　[12]圖布里鞋的起價為750美元，靴子為1450美元，顧客必須要等上6至8周才能拿到鞋。

　　[13]那些想買便宜點的并想快點拿到定做鞋的顧客可到史蒂夫馬登網站去購買。該公司創始人史蒂夫•馬登說，通過該網站已賣出了10萬雙定做鞋，價格從90美元至170美元不等。

　　[14]這也是羅伯特•克萊姆去年夏天在聽說史蒂夫馬登公司“自我設計系列”后所做的。他27歲，是一名來自紐約州貝斯佩奇的信貸員。他是一個購鞋狂(擁有60雙鞋)，他希望為女朋友¿¬特.菲恩設計一些鞋子，并在她生日時給她一個驚喜。

　　[15]從他女友的鞋碼9選起，然后他通過網站，選擇款式、鞋跟與顏色，這樣就設計成了海軍方格布軟木鞋跟與鞋底的露趾平跟鞋，克萊姆先生認為“這雙鞋無論是配牛仔褲還是正裝都十分合適。”

　　[16]他一共花費了150美元的郵費與稅。該網站對定做鞋另外收取20%的費用，這些鞋在中國生產且不可退貨。根據網站信息，完成時間為3周。

　　[17]目前史蒂夫馬登網站幾乎沒有遇到網上競爭。但洛杉機B•賴利公司服裝分析師杰費里•范•辛德倫預測，其他制造商也會在不久后進入該市場，盡管建立一家制鞋廠與一個銷售系統需要很大的投資。

　　[18]定做鞋行業是有利可圖的，他說：“它解決了如何生產出對顧客更有吸引力產品的問題，那就是讓他們自己設計。”

　　[19]對于鞋子，熱情通常超越其實用性。對于22歲的瑪麗•A•約翰遜來說，在線設計就等同于擁有一些獨特的東西。西洛杉磯大學學生約翰遜女士則擁有200雙鞋子，但這并不能阻止她最近到史蒂夫馬登網站設計一些用紅邊裝飾的紫色芭蕾舞鞋。她說：“這是你自己制作的東西，而不是買那些現成的。”