The stuff shoes are made of

Over the millennia people have made shoes out of different materials, for example wood, plant fibers, animal hides or animal hair. In more recent times, chemical substances produced from oil or materials recycled from rubber tires and plastic bottles have been used.

What shoes are made of depends on what materials are available, on which environmental conditions they have to be adapted to or what they are needed for.  A combination of different materials can boost the shoe's protective quality or wearing comfort or can make them more fashionable.

This is how a shoe is made

The art of shoemaking consists of sewing together a three-dimensional shoe out of two-dimensional primary material. After cutting out the sole and the upper parts, the real shoe production begins. For this a so-called shoe last is needed, which is a copy of the foot and serves as a work surface. Depending on the model, 200 - 280 different steps are necessary to go from conception to finished product.  

"Just like with a building, when making a shoe there is also a mysterious interaction of proportions" (Suzanne Slesin)