Editor’s Note: This piece references The Wall Street Journal feature “Tired of Ill-Fitting Shoes? These Customizable Sneaker Brands Want to Help” by journalist Ashley Mateo. The story explores how AI and customization are redefining fit and how IAMBIC uses smartphone scanning and precision data to build shoes shaped for each individual.
IAMBIC creates precision-fit footwear that combines AI, biomechanics, and European craftsmanship. Each pair begins with a smartphone 3D scan measuring over twenty biometric variables to the millimeter. Our Fit Engine translates that data into a digital last unique to your anatomy, and artisans in Portugal craft your pair for posture, balance, and lasting comfort.
Recognized as a TIME Best Invention of the Year and supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the MODEL T is designed in New York City and handcrafted in Portugal.
New to IAMBIC? For personalized fit guidance before ordering, start with the Fit Guide Quiz.
The Wall Street Journal spotlight: Solving fit with AI and craft
NEW YORK, NY. In a recent feature, The Wall Street Journal examined how brands use customization to address one of footwear’s oldest challenges: poor fit. IAMBIC was highlighted for its use of smartphone self-scanning and a precision-fit process that builds directly from each customer’s foot geometry, combining data-driven engineering with traditional European craftsmanship.
“Tired of ill-fitting shoes? These customizable sneaker brands want to help.”
Ashley Mateo, The Wall Street Journal
The feature underscores how IAMBIC bridges performance and comfort through adaptive design, bringing personalization once reserved for bespoke luxury into everyday wear.
The IAMBIC difference
Every IAMBIC pair represents the union of advanced data modeling and human craftsmanship. The Fit Engine interprets more than twenty biometric variables to create a last made only for you, with no sizes or templates. This foundation is shaped in Portugal using full-grain leather and adaptive foam engineered for motion, posture, and precision comfort.
- Smartphone self-scan: Capture your 3D geometry in minutes.
- Precision-fit last: Designed from your data, not averaged sizing.
- European craftsmanship: Each pair hand-built from premium materials.
- Iterative evolution: Sole Print wear feedback refines future pairs.
Introducing the MODEL T
The MODEL T represents IAMBIC’s vision of modern bespoke footwear: quiet luxury defined by precision. Named a TIME Best Invention, the MODEL T is built on technology recognized by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Designed in New York City and crafted in Portugal, it merges intelligence, endurance, and form.
Why precision fit changes everything
Most footwear is built on standard size charts, not anatomy. This mismatch leads to fatigue, poor posture, and wasted energy. IAMBIC’s model replaces guesswork with data-led geometry calibrated to your movement. Each pair is built from your biomechanics, ensuring alignment and stability that lasts all day.
- Balanced posture: Alignment tuned to your gait and stance.
- Reduced fatigue: Even pressure distribution for long wear.
- Consistent comfort: Future pairs evolve with your data.
How to get started
Ready to order? Visit the MODEL T page and place your order. After checkout, complete your smartphone Virtual Consultation with a quick three-image scan and comfort profile. We craft your pair in Portugal and ship in about four to six weeks.
Not ready to order? Take the Fit Guide Quiz to explore your precision fit and receive personalized guidance before ordering.
About the WSJ Author
Ashley Mateo is an award-winning journalist and editor who covers health, fitness, and culture. Her work appears in TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Runner’s World, and Men’s Journal. She is an RRCA and UESCA certified running coach, founder of RUNHER Magazine, and a Boston University journalism graduate based in Denver.
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IAMBIC is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any 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.