AI-tailored, precision-fit shoes that learn from your wear. Advanced smartphone 3D scanning and a comfort profile create your personal fit. Each pair is made to your geometry, then refined with real-world Sole Print data.
Who we are. TIME Best Invention. Backed by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Designed in New York City. Crafted in Europe.
New to IAMBIC? Start below.
Forbes spotlight: The footwear brand using AI to revolutionize shoemaking
NEW YORK, NY — Forbes profiles how IAMBIC is applying NASA-grade, AI-assisted design to address a systemic industry issue: poor fit. Before mass production, shoes were crafted to the individual. Today most pairs are built around standard sizes, and our feet feel it. A systematic review across 18 studies found 63% to 72% of participants wore ill-fitting shoes, which correlates with discomfort and conditions like bunions and calluses.
“Have you ever had a custom-made shoe?”
Anna Haines, Forbes
The piece traces IAMBIC’s origins to Maeve Wang’s own struggle to find shoes that fit, and explains how data, biomechanics, and craft combine to deliver a precision experience that scales.
Why standard sizing fails, and how AI changes the outcome
Standard sizing and conventional manufacturing do not account for three-dimensional foot morphology or the wide variation in foot shapes. IAMBIC’s approach starts with a scan and builds forward from data and biomechanics.
“Most shoes start from a fixed size chart and a static last.”
Maeve Wang in Forbes
The remaining population tolerates discomfort or trades comfort for style. IAMBIC’s fit model is designed to address those quiet trade-offs with personalized geometry and materials.
How the IAMBIC fit system works
Three smartphone photos generate a 3D picture that considers shape, size, and walking patterns. NASA-grade capture and AI algorithms map the fit to a digital mould. Skilled artisans craft the pair. As the shoe is worn, Sole Print ridges capture a heat-map of gait to fine-tune future pairs.
- Scan: Three images on your phone create a 3D model of your foot.
- Model: AI maps your geometry to a digital mould and fit profile.
- Craft: Each pair is made to order by artisans with full-grain leather and a three-layer rubber sole.
- Refine: Worn sole photos train updates to cushioning, structure, and fit for your next pair.
“When the shoe matches your foot, pressure distributes more evenly, heel lock improves, and consistent contact under the arch supports natural load transfer through the gait cycle.”
“People feel steadier and finish long days with more energy, better balance on stairs and curbs, and longer comfortable wear.”
Outcomes for leaders who move all day
Fit directs how force travels through the kinetic chain. Small misfits compound over miles and show up as hotspots, blisters, calluses, ankle and calf tension, and posture shifts that drain energy. IAMBIC’s system reads more than 20 biometric variables, including forefoot shape, ball girth, instep volume, arch height, heel morphology, and how your foot transmits load and pressure.
Made to order, designed for longevity
Longevity matters for people and the planet. Poor fit and overproduction drive waste. IAMBIC’s make-to-order model reduces size-run overproduction and lowers return risk, with premium materials designed for years of daily wear.
“Precision fit means each pair has an owner before it is made, which lowers size-run overproduction and lowers return risk.”
Access at a fraction of traditional bespoke
Traditional made-to-measure can run $3,000 to $10,000 and focus on hand-built dress shoes and boots. IAMBIC delivers a made-to-order pair in four to six weeks at $550.
“True made-to-measure shoes are slow, expensive at roughly $3,000 to $10,000, and usually limited to hand-built dress shoes and boots. We are making accessible what was once a bespoke luxury at a fraction of traditional custom pricing.”
Signals of progress
- More than 50,000 scans processed
- 12 patent-pending inventions across fit modelling and digital-to-physical craft
- Named a TIME Best Invention
- Featured at the Miami Shoe Museum and on Times Square billboards
- Backed by a $1 million National Science Foundation grant
- New Art Gods series of made-to-order collaborations by Miami artists
“The next Nike is going to start with the data… when everyone's wearing precision-fit shoes.”
Experience comfort built for you
Explore MODEL T or take the Fit Guide Quiz. Most first pairs are made in about four to six weeks after your consultation.
About the Forbes author
Anna Haines is a lifestyle journalist with over seven years covering wellness, travel, food, style, and beauty. Her work has appeared in Architectural Digest, Bloomberg, Food & Wine, The Globe and Mail, Eater, Vogue, AFAR, Well+Good, Lonely Planet, Travel + Leisure, Insider, and more. She is an award-winning photographer and an alum of the International Center of Photography and McGill University.
The most interesting thing about them being crafted just for me is how well they fit. And I hadnever even noticed that my shoes didn't fit right. My other shoes don't hurt me - they just slosharound. With these, the heels actually stay on the whole time and it fits snugly yet stillcomfortably. And I'd never experienced that before. They just stay comfortable all day.
As a runner, as an athlete, just knowing that I'm doing a good service to my body is incredible.It’s the reason that I love my IAMBIC shoes. It's that precision that makes me feel safe to walkdown the street, get on the subway, do my commute, bring my kids to school, and not feelconcerned that I'm doing it in a shoe that doesn't fit right or that doesn't feel good.
The thing that I was surprised by the most with the precision fit is that any pressure points thatI had been feeling with the shoes that I previously came in wearing were completely gone. I waswearing a shoe that wasn't too tight. It wasn't too loose. The sole fit just right. Total comfort.That's the best way to put it.
So I suffer from chronic foot pain and I believe that a lot of that has to do with wearing shoesthat actually don't fit. Whenever I wear my IAMBICs, I've noticed that I have felt less pain,which is really incredible. And they're just so comfortable. I'm not worried about the back of my heel popping out or my ankles not having enough support. Also, they're just so stylish andevery timeI wear them out in the street, I always get compliments, which never happens to me.
A shoe that may feel comfortable for a half hour walk is not a shoe that always feels comfortablefor a three and a half hour walk. So what I like about IAMBIC is, even though the snug fit isthere and it feels comfortable, it also feels substantial enough that I can walk a lot withoutgetting any discomfort. That's just something that's especially important to me and I think theshoe has really delivered that.
The first moment that I tried on my IAMBIC shoes, I noticed a difference. I have small feet. So whenever I try on shoes, I usually expect them to not fit. If they do fit, there's usually some sort of discomfort, whether that's in the toe box or too much space or at the heel. So knowing that this shoe was tailored to my foot was really meaningful. It's rare that you find a shoe like IAMBIC that truly is comfortable, but also hits the markers of style versatility.
I think we're all placed on this earth as unique individuals. None of us are really off the rack in terms of sizing. So for me to have that experience of having something made specifically for me that fit perfectly was something that was a little bit mind blowing. And once I got the shoes, I tried them on, they looked great, they felt great. And honestly, they fit like a glove.