Sneakprint launched its ShoeFactory platform today, selling not a shoe but the right to print one. The single model at launch, the Easy Slide flip-flop, costs €64.99 and arrives as an STL file sized to a scan of the buyer’s own feet.
The scan runs through a partner, Sweden’s Volumental, in a phone browser with no app: feet get photographed next to a sheet of paper for scale, and the company’s AI model, trained on 66 million scans, pulls length, width and shape to what Sneakprint calls millimeter accuracy. That data feeds a parametric model generated separately for each foot. Buyers then get an emailed configurator link, usually within a minute, to set strap text, sole thickness, height and lattice density, with every change recalculated against their scan. They have 90 days to finish before the STL archive ships, and the files can be reprinted indefinitely. Sneakprint hasn’t published recommended materials or printer requirements, and foot scans are deleted after an unspecified retention window.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Price | €64.99 |
| Design window after invite | 90 days |
| Scan training data | 66 million scans |
| Configurator turnaround | 1-2 minutes |
Founder Kevin Zürn, who wears orthopedic insoles for wide feet, started the company in July 2020 after a 2015 university project. Sneakprint’s first product, the RetroTechV1 leather sneaker with a 3D-printed midsole, launched in May 2023 and was made to order in the EU. ShoeFactory moves that fitting logic to the customer’s own printer instead. A second model, the Chick Loafer, is in development, and the company is opening the platform to outside footwear designers and to printer and filament makers who want a marketplace in front of buyers already shopping for printable files.