In most Indian homes, children are forced to wear shoes that are either too little or too large for their feet. Parents are uninformed of the dangers associated with letting their kids wear shoes that are too big for them and are tempted to buy a larger size in the hopes that their child would grow into it. Inadequate shoe sizing has been linked to an increased incidence of foot abnormalities in children.
Satyajit Mittal, a shoemaker from Pune, saw a need and cofounded the tech-driven footwear firm Aretto Shoes to provide it. Aretto shoes grow with the kid.
What’s with the kid’s footwear
A child doesn’t have proper shoes for the first ten years of his or her life. From birth to age 3, a child’s feet grow about one size every three months. A child’s feet keep growing at a good rate until he or she is 9 years old, and they keep growing until the middle or end of their teens. Even when parents do their best, they can’t give their kids the best-sized shoes for their feet at the right age because feet grow so quickly. Most parents buy shoes that are a size bigger for their kids to make peace with this.
Satyajit found that the Indian shoe business, which is the second largest in the world, doesn’t have enough shoes for kids. A gap stands between the customer and the thing being sold. Adults are the main people who buy shoes from big shoe companies. He says, “They just make the adult shoe smaller to fit a child’s foot, but they don’t know that a child’s foot is very different from an adult foot.”
But this designer-turned-entrepreneur has solved the issue of children’s feet outgrowing their footwear for once and all.
In 2020, he started talking to podiatrists to learn more about how kids’ feet are made. He knew that a child’s feet are wider and that their bones aren’t fully formed for another couple of years. During the first six years of life, the foot must copy hundreds of nerve endings. He says that a thicker sole takes away the chance for sensory input.
Satyajit worked for two years to make a shoe that grows with the child. This not only saves money for parents, but it also fills a need in the shoe market by making high-quality shoes for kids.
Aretto Shoes was started in 2022 by him and his childhood friend Krutika Lal, who is in charge of marketing and sales for the company. Their goal was to bring the shoe’s 3D knit technology to the market. This material is perfect for shoe uppers because it can stretch and hold its shape. Satyajith says that podiatrists have checked out the shoes and that they have 360-degree flexibility, ventilation, size flexibility, and a three-size range of stretchability.
Aretto
Aretto Shoes aims to provide kids with the optimal size throughout all cycles. The development of a flower from bud to full bloom served as a model for them. Every day, the change occurs naturally. They used this idea in the design of the sneaker.
They began developing a pair of shoes that bend with the wearer’s foot. Aretto Shoes adapts to the form and contours of a child’s foot as it grows, whether it be in the forefoot, the heel, or the sides. The shoes are constructed with grooves in the sole that expand to accommodate a child’s developing foot, and they have a “jelly-soft” memory foam insole for added comfort and cushioning.
Aretto Shoes cost anything from Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,600. Last month, Satyajit’s revenue was Rs 21 lakh, an increase of 80% from the previous month. His clientele consists primarily of Americans and Britons, but also of those from Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. In the first nine months since launching his company, Satyajit has sold more than six thousand pairs of shoes.
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