You go to a footwear shop and the shopkeeper asks for your shoe-size. Chances are you don't know the US or the UK size, or at best insist on a 'Bata size' number to make things simpler. A sigh of relief follows when you spot a length-measuring device where you just have to plonk your foot to find the best fitting model.
K.J. Sreeram, director of CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), points out how we never measure the width of our feet for those perfectly snug shoes. Neither do UK or US sizing systems account for a wider width when it comes to the Indian feet. From August this year, CLRI will lead a pan-India foot-scanning survey in collaboration with the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), fanning out to 100 districts from Kerala to Jammu, and cover a sample size of one lakh people to eventually determine a Footwear Sizing System of India. Armed with box-like three-dimensional scanners, the survey will measure the length, width and 20 other parameters of the Indian feet. Sreeram, in a telephonic interview with THE WEEK, talks about why it is high time we have an Indian standard sizing system for shoes.
Why are we coming up with an Indian standard sizing system for shoes to replace the UK version which has become the norm?
In India we are predominantly using a UK size, but it so happens that India also makes chappals and shoes based on the UK, French or the US sizes. This is because in 1963 or thereabouts we just adopted the UK standard and started making our footwear in that format. Because then we were more of an exporting country rather than a consumer country. But going forward, as our understanding of the science of footwear increased and alongside human anthropometry, we found that the foot shape of a common Indian person (man, woman or even children) is very different from that of the western world. We have a broader front area when compared to the European feet. If you go back and look at fashionable shoes for women, most of the European or french ones are too narrow in the front. Our women would find it difficult to insert the front portion of their legs into such shoes. So they would adopt the next size or a slightly larger size. The length is now more to accommodate the width of the foot. Such situations often lead to foot related disorders including breaking of the bones. Instead of continuing to accept the old standard, it was decided by the government of India to ensure that the Indian population would have its own footwear sizing system. We will take care of the width and length now.
K.J. Sreeram
How have the characteristics of the Indian feet changed over the years? And what about the many regional variations?
Depending on our lifestyle, the body assumes different shapes and the foot is no different. In the 1960s, most of us were in the habit of sitting and working for longer hours, especially the "babu" class. Women were mostly indoors. But now we spend a lot more time travelling, the strength of the foot has changed, the office sitting and standing systems have also changed, and most importantly, our leg usually remains covered inside a footwear for more than 12 hours a day. This has changed the shape of our foot and these changes manifest and become predominant in a span of 15 to 20 years. This change has prompted us to go back and do our own sizing system as the 1960s' one was an adopted standard from the Britishers.
How long has this idea of an Indian standard size for shoes been around? When was it first floated?
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) programme was going around countries to study dimensional changes. They approached CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) to do a survey of just about 5,000 people to understand dimensions of Indian feet at the time. Though we collected data pan India, it was a small sample. But the data was significant enough to indicate towards major differences in shapes between western and Indian foot sizes. We also did a small survey for school children between 2012 and 2017 and even then we found there is a need for a new India-specific system for shoes. Initial scientific papers which CLRI presented in government forums ended up igniting the idea of possibly going for a pan-India survey.
How do you see the international footmakers modifying their dimensions to comply with the new Indian size? There might be a lot of confusion for the shopkeepers.
We have already pre-empted this problem of confusion coming up. So in this project, we have said that we will also develop what is known as the equivalence system, so that India size X will be equivalent to UK size Y, US size Z, etc. The nearest matching size chart will be available, so this avoids the problem of confusion. But India has become a very good procurer and user of footwear. There can be local manufacturers looking at the domestic market who will adopt the Indian standard itself. People involved in domestic and export businesses can use equivalence standards.
There is something called the 'Bata size' which people just assume to be the Indian standard size just as the company itself is assumed to be Indian.
Bata size is a concept which the company itself came up with. After getting a grip on their consumers' needs and characteristics, they started playing around with the so-called UK size or US size by changing the width of the shoe somewhat. The Bata size will not match exactly in the UK or the US but the company has adopted a slightly different sizing system for India. They tweaked the dimensions for the India market. That is why the same-size shoe at Bata and Liberty are different. And that is why it is hard to switch brands. That is also the reason why the online market for footwear is not growing.
