Every IAMBIC pair begins with a 3D scan that maps over twenty biometric points per foot. Our Fit Engine turns this data into a millimeter-accurate digital last, then European artisans craft each pair from full-grain Italian leather for balance, comfort, and all-day performance.
Recognized as a TIME Best Invention of the Year and backed by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Designed in New York City, crafted in Portugal.
Not ready to order? Take the Fit Guide Quiz to explore your precision fit.
Road Test: MODEL T
Part of the Road Test series, where leaders put the MODEL T to the test in real motion. Each pair is crafted through smartphone-based 3D scans and IAMBIC’s AI Fit Engine, transforming more than twenty biometric variables into a millimeter-accurate fit.
Read part one of this journey to see how it began.
Photography and videography courtesy of Patrizia Cogliati and Federico La Grutta.
MODEL T in Motion
Ferrari. Lamborghini. Pagani. Ray Chang’s Italy tour showcases the world’s most precision-engineered machines. But there’s another piece of craftsmanship he’s testing through Motor Valley’s cobblestone streets and factory floors: his IAMBIC MODEL T shoes.
As founder of The Motorsport Lab, Ray knows what it means when performance meets craft. Halfway through his Italian supercar tour, we caught up with him to see how both the journey and the shoes are holding up.
Catching Up with Ray Chang
How has the Italy tour been so far? What moments have stood out the most?
The tour has been incredible. We started in Maranello at the Ferrari Museum, followed by lunch at Cavallino, the restaurant Ferrari built with Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura. Then came drives in the Ferrari 488 and a visit to the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena.
The next day was all about Lamborghini. We spent six hours on a full factory tour watching the Urus S being built, then got behind the wheel for a driving experience in the Performante. Between stops, the team discovered crema caffè, an iced espresso you can only find at Ferrari and Lamborghini cafés. It’s become our ritual.
We wrapped with Pagani, exploring both the museum and the atelier where each hypercar is hand-assembled. Watching the craftsmen there was unforgettable. The precision, the focus, the way each movement matters.
This is your first major tour traveling with your IAMBIC MODEL T shoes. How has that changed the experience?
Confidence. When you’re on tour, you’re on your feet nonstop. You walk through museums, factories, cities, and you rarely rest. Normally my feet are the first to give out. With the MODEL T, I don’t worry about that anymore. They’re part of my rhythm now.
During that six-hour Lamborghini factory tour, I was focused on watching the Urus assembly line, not on my feet. That’s the difference.
Every night I slide pine shoe trees inside, and in the morning they feel brand-new again. It’s a small ritual, but as a sneakerhead, I love it. It keeps the shoes fresh and reminds me that good design should reward consistency.
You've been walking miles of cobblestone streets. How have the MODEL T shoes held up through that?
Cobblestones in Modena look beautiful but are brutal on your feet. The MODEL T’s sole changes that. It’s thick enough to absorb the impact yet light enough that you don’t feel weighed down. It almost feels like a soft massage with every step. I’ve worn luxury sneakers before, but none have this balance of structure and cushion.
People have noticed them, too. They ask about the green treads on the sole, and I tell them they mimic a racing-tire wear bar. That detail clicks immediately here in Motor Valley. The black, white, and green contrast gives them a performance edge while keeping the design timeless — like a gray Lamborghini with bright calipers.
After wearing them through Italy, how would you describe the precision fit so far?
The leather broke in perfectly. It stretched just enough to contour to my feet without losing shape. I have pairs that get loose over time, but this one adapts instead of deforming. Whether I’m driving, walking, or standing at a restaurant, the comfort stays consistent. It’s engineered like a performance machine: responsive, measured, predictable.
You spend your life around high-performance machines. Do you see parallels between supercar engineering and IAMBIC’s craftsmanship?
Absolutely. When you customize a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Pagani, you choose every element such as the leather, the stitching, the accent color. Each piece is built to your exact preferences. The MODEL T follows the same philosophy. It’s created from your scan, adjusted to your measurements, then handcrafted.
At the Pagani atelier I watched artisans wrap leather around steering wheels with millimeter precision. That same attention to detail shows up in these shoes. It’s performance expressed through craft.
How has wearing the MODEL T through Italy shaped your view of luxury?
Luxury, to me, is now about fit and authenticity. Walking past the flagship boutiques here, I realized most of those shoes are made for a type, not for a person. My MODEL T is made for me. It matches every outfit I travel with and still feels amazing after fifteen-hour days.
I find myself comparing them to what’s in the windows, and honestly, nothing compares. Even in Italy, surrounded by couture leather, this pair holds its own.
For anyone who lives between airports, meetings, and experiences, that matters. That’s real luxury — something crafted for your exact life and movement.
Explore the MODEL T, recognized as a TIME Best Invention.
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.