IAMBIC is honored to be featured in Innovation Legacies: A Footwear Journey Through Time at the MIAMI Shoe Museum, a research-focused institution exploring how design heritage, craft, and technology shape the future of footwear. The exhibition traces pivotal work across eras and highlights innovations that redefine the relationship between form and function.
Not ready to order? Take the Fit Guide Quiz for personalized fit guidance.
A distinguished collection
Curated by fashion theorist and artist Luis Valenzuela, Innovation Legacies presents an expansive narrative of footwear’s evolution. The exhibition unites work from heritage houses and forward-looking designers who integrate sustainability, data, and technology into modern luxury.
Why IAMBIC was selected
IAMBIC was chosen for Innovation Legacies: A Footwear Journey Through Time not as a contemporary brand placement, but as a case study in how footwear design evolves when technology is applied in service of the human body. For curator Luis Valenzuela, the decision reflects continuity rather than disruption.
Across six centuries of footwear history, the most enduring innovations share the same foundation: precise fit, material integrity, and responsiveness to how people actually move. What distinguishes IAMBIC, in Valenzuela’s view, is that these principles are now informed by data rather than approximation.
“For me, it’s fascinating to see what was done in the past and what is happening right now. The principles are the same. Fit and quality. The technology is different, but the intention is the same.”
— Luis Valenzuela
Rather than replicating heritage aesthetics, IAMBIC advances the legacy of bespoke through smartphone based 3D scanning, comfort profiling, and AI tailored lastmaking. For Valenzuela, this shift represents a meaningful inflection point in footwear history, one where luxury becomes less about ornament and more about precision, care, and longevity.
“This is not a concept or something in the future. It is real. You can touch it, you can wear it, and you can feel the difference.”
— Luis Valenzuela
In Innovation Legacies, IAMBIC stands alongside historic maisons not as an outlier, but as evidence of how craft, when paired with modern technology, continues to evolve rather than disappear.
The IAMBIC philosophy
IAMBIC combines smartphone-based 3D scanning and comfort profiling with AI-tailored lastmaking and European craftsmanship. Our debut model, the MODEL T, was recognized as a TIME Best Invention and developed with technology supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (SBIR Phase II Award).
While traditional maisons established the aesthetic language of luxury, IAMBIC advances that heritage through computational design and precision manufacturing, honoring artisanal techniques while shaping the future of made-to-fit footwear.
Experience the exhibition
Innovation Legacies: A Footwear Journey Through Time runs April 19 to June 21, 2025 at the MIAMI Shoe Museum’s SHOE VAULT space. For visiting hours and tickets, visit the museum’s Exhibitions and Events page.
About the MIAMI Shoe Museum
The MIAMI Shoe Museum is a research and exhibition center dedicated to the cultural and technological evolution of footwear. Through its Research Center and SHOE VAULT, it curates projects and educational programs that connect heritage craftsmanship with modern innovation.
About the curator
Luis Valenzuela is a Miami-based artist, fashion theorist, and sustainability advocate. His work bridges wearable art, design history, and environmental practice. As Founder and Director of the MIAMI Shoe Museum, he leads research-centered exhibitions that explore how footwear design reflects culture, technology, and innovation. Valenzuela’s creative vision connects art and science to show how tradition informs future design.
Why this matters for modern luxury footwear
- Precision fit, not sizing: A 3D scan and comfort profile define geometry unique to each wearer.
- Craft with data: Portuguese construction informed by AI and biomechanical research.
- Adaptive design: Sole Print wear feedback improves each future pair.
Explore the shoe featured in this exhibition, the MODEL T. If you’d like guidance before ordering, take the Fit Guide Quiz for personalized fit guidance.
FAQs
What is the MIAMI Shoe Museum?
The MIAMI Shoe Museum is a Miami-based cultural institution that showcases the evolution of footwear through research, materials, and innovation.
How is IAMBIC redefining modern luxury?
IAMBIC merges smartphone scanning and comfort profiling with AI-guided lastmaking and European craft, recognized by TIME Best Inventions and supported by the NSF SBIR Phase II Award.
How do I start with IAMBIC?
Ready to order? Visit the MODEL T page to place your order. After checkout, complete your smartphone Virtual Consultation (three photos per foot and a short comfort profile). Not ready to order? Take the Fit Guide Quiz for personalized fit guidance.
Helpful links
IAMBIC is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or monitor medical conditions.
The most interesting thing about them being crafted just for me is how well they fit. And I had never even noticed that my shoes didn't fit right. My other shoes don't hurt me - they just slosh around. With these, the heels actually stay on the whole time and it fits snugly yet still comfortably. 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 walk down the street, get on the subway, do my commute, bring my kids to school, and not feel concerned 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 was wearing 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 shoes that 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 and every time I 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 comfort able for a three and a half hour walk. So what I like about IAMBIC is, even though the snug fit is there and it feels comfortable, it also feels substantial enough that I can walk a lot without getting any discomfort. That's just something that's especially important to me and I think the shoe 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.
When we get behind the wheel of a Ferrari, Lamborghini, people feel that precision. 1 millimeter of change in the steering wheel, you will feel that. 1 millimeter of pressure into the accelerator, you’ll feel that. And for me, that is a linkage between performance, but then for me as I'm wearing my IAMBICs, it's just another reminder of how my IAMBICs are created based on that performance and the millimeter of precision that's included within the shoe which aligns up with the world of Ferrari and Lamborghini and the precision behind that.
Having a pair of shoes that I know will make me be able to stand up and do the job that I need to do without feeling burnt out or exhausted at the end of the day, which most shoes will end up doing no matter what they've been in the past. After a certain amount of time standing up, I don't think I've ever worried about that, or had that fatigue after a long shoot. At the end of a shoot when it's “Oh hey, we have to go into overtime." or something like that. This is something that helps me not feel the fatigue of being drained or tired because it's a pain that I don't get anymore from being on my feet for so long.
They're so comfortable that they're a part of life. They move with you, and I think that's the support, the comfort. I don't wear them just for the style, I wear them because they make me feel good. That's a really big thing for me.
When I wear my dress shoes, I'm constantly thinking OK, I wish I brought a pair of sneakers, and then when I have my sneakers on, then I'm tending to deal with the issues in the upper, right, part of the shoe whether on the front or back of my foot. So I want to say to myself, okay how do I replicate the feel of the IAMBIC shoe because I wear this every day.
What will happen is I'll wear my IAMBICs, I'm like this is great, like my day is good, I don't really notice anything. And then, if I switch to a different pair of shoes, especially like my very high end sneakers and I have a not bad collection of other high end sneakers, I'm immediately like ugh this just sucks like they really do. So I think it's the relational sort of experience where when I'm wearing my IAMBICs, I don't really notice and I think that says a lot. And it’s not until you wear a different set of shoes that you're like oh the reason I'm not noticing is because these fit my feet so well.