THE HISTORY OF THE SHOE

The creation of the shoe was a natural consequence of the need that man felt to protect his feet from the discomfort of walking on stones and dirt or the danger of stepping on a venomous animal. Paintings made in caves in Spain and southern France 10,000 years before Christ show that at that time (Paleolithic) prehistoric man was already using rudimentary species of shoes made of straw and wood, probably the first model in the history of the shoe.

Among the stone tools used by the so-called cavemen, there are several that were used to scrape skins, which indicates that the art of tanning leather is very old.

In Mesopotamia, the region where Iraq is today, rawhide shoes were common, tied to the feet by strips of the same material. Boots were symbols of high social standing.

In Ancient Egypt, shoes were made from straw, papyrus or palm fiber. People used them only when necessary, carrying them around with them. And this, of course, was a benefit only to nobles: Pharaohs, for example, wore sandals adorned with gold. In the Egyptian hypogea, which were underground chambers used for burials and which are between six and seven thousand years old, paintings were discovered that represented the various states of preparation of leather and footwear.

In Greek and Roman civilizations, the shoe also began to gain status as a social differentiator.

The Greeks launched several models and even created the first specialized shoes for each foot, right and left. In Greece, slaves were publicly known for not using any type of foot covering.

In Rome, the shoe was an indicator of the social class of the individual: the consuls wore white shoes, the senators used brown shoes held by four black leather ribbons tied to two knots and the legions used a kind of interlaced boots with a short barrel who uncovered their fingers; composed of structured soles with leather straps tied to the feet or legs, as can be seen in the frescoes. But the construction was rudimentary and the design unattractive.

It is from the Muslim culture that the concept of footwear as we know it today originates. With the introduction of Arab culture in the Middle Ages in Europe, the use of different materials, the color of the leather, the worked seams and the refined design gave rise to different and innovative types of shoes, based on the integral sneaker with the closing of the seams across the top, used by both men and women.

Already in the sixteenth century in France, at the court of Louis XIV, heels were exclusively male objects, a symbol of ostentation and wealth, where men wore very high heels. King Louis XV, due to his short stature, ordered high heel shoes.

The numbering standardization is of English origin. King Edward I was the one who standardized the measures. The first known reference to the manufacture of footwear in England is from 1642, when Thomas Pendleton supplied 4,000 pairs of shoes and 600 pairs of boots to the army. The military campaigns of this era initiated a substantial demand for boots and shoes.

Manufactured shoes began to appear during the 18th century, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In the middle of the 19th century, machines began to appear to help in the manufacture of shoes, but only with the sewing machine did the shoe become more accessible.

From the fourth decade of the 20th century onwards, major changes began to take place in the footwear industry, such as the shift from leather to rubber and synthetic materials, mainly in women's and children's shoes. Currently, some shoe brands are symbols of social status, referring back to the Egyptian, Greek and Roman eras.