FitMyFeet is a design kit to create custom flip-flops for people suffering with clubfoot, a medical condition affecting over 1.3 million Indians. In the true spirit of innovation, it's designed to work with the centuries-old tools of the vast street-cobbler network of India. This allows for a medical design solution that can be bought for a mere USD 2.40 and is currently being distributed by over 4.5K street-cobblers.

Clubfoot, a congenital abnormality that leads to misshapen feet, affects 1.3 million people in India. Since surgical options are limited to early years and custom footwear is expensive, people are forced to live with a lack of mobility, dignity and opportunity.

On the other hand, India has a large network of street-cobblers. Part of the 30-million unorganised labour-force of the country, the cobblers are present on almost every street-corner of every town.

This gives us a unique opportunity to design a kit for customizable flip-flops, that worked specifically with the tools of this centuries-old cobbler network. This allowed the flip-flops to be cost-effective at just USD 2.40 and leverage the large-scale distribution of the on-street network.

Clubfoot, a congenital abnormality that leads to misshapen feet, affects 1.3 million people in India. Since surgical options are limited to early years and custom footwear is expensive, people are forced to live with a lack of mobility, dignity and opportunity.

The brief was to come-up with a footwear solution for clubfeet that could tackle the high cost of creating footwear while keeping it customizable.

Our objective was to not just crack the design and cost-effectiveness, but also figure out large scale distribution of our design solution.

Currently the kit is available through over 4.5K street-cobblers for just USD 2.40.

The insight was pretty straight forward. We needed a way to keep our customizable kits cost-effective and scalable. We found the solution in the centuries-old network of street-cobblers.

Hence, the creative idea of FitMyFeet works on two levels:

The Design Solution

The FitMyFeet kit is a unique DIY design solution to make custom flip-flops. Packed with 2 sheets of rubber soles (one hard and one soft), tracing paper and adjustable length straps, the kit allows footwear to be cut to any shape or size.

The Culture Solution

The kit has been uniquely designed to work with the centuries-old tools of the street-cobblers of India. Part of the 30-million unorganised labour-force of the country, the cobblers allow for a cost-effective means of production and distribution.

Considering that the product had to be an effective medical solution, we worked closely with orthopaedic doctors and footwear designers.

The FitMyFeet kit combines design ingredients for making custom flip-flops, with the centuries-old tools of Indian street-cobblers. It has been uniquely designed to work these traditional tools.

The kit contains a rubber strap that can be tailored to any length, two rubber soles (one flexible and one hard) and a tracing paper to outline the shape of each unique clubfoot. The top flexible sole allows for better bend and comfort during movement while the hard bottom sole helps with drag while walking.

To make sure the flip-flops were effective, we designed them in collaboration with orthopaedics and foot-wear designers. The kits are produced in the factories of Bukaroo, a footwear brand.

The instructions on the kit are visual to overcome any barriers of language or education. On the streets, the cobblers can take measurements of the person's clubfeet and have the flip-flops ready in a matter of minutes.

FitMyFeet successfully managed to create customized flip-flops for clubfeet at just USD 2.40 a pair, while also generating a new revenue stream for cobblers.

So far more than 228,000 customized flip-flops have managed to reach its consumer.

With every customized flip-flop, we enable mobility, opportunity and dignity.

Working with over 4.5K cobblers and sticking to advertising on the walls behind them, we've managed to create a smart and cost-effective means of generating awareness.

Buckaroo plans to go pan-India by the end of the year.