Footwear Sourcing and Export from India

No, and we say so plainly. We are a sourcing, product development and export partner working through a network of Indian manufacturing units. That is an advantage rather than a limitation, because a factory can only make what its line is tooled for. A unit set up for cemented casuals will not hand stitch a moccasin, and a leather house will not run moulded EVA. Not being tied to one line means the product goes to the unit built for it. You contract with one company, Alstoe India Exports, and the product ships under one brand, Milestoe.

Alstoe India Exports is the exporting entity. It contracts with you, issues the export documentation, handles compliance and arranges shipping. Milestoe is the footwear brand that the product carries. Two names, one accountable party. The Milestoe range and brand can be seen at milestoe.in.

Yes. You can take the Milestoe range as it stands, with a brand and catalogue already built, or put your own label on the same production. Both are available, and many buyers start with Milestoe to test a market on something proven before moving to their own brand. For your own design, send a reference pair, sketch, technical pack or written description along with your destination market, and we develop it through the appropriate unit. You will get a direct answer on what is buildable, what needs new tooling and what we would not attempt, rather than an enthusiastic yes to everything.

EVA is a closed cell foam used to mould lightweight footwear. It is light, water resistant, cushioned and washable, which is why it dominates comfort and casual categories in warm climate and volume markets. Commercially it has three advantages: it ships economically relative to leather because it is light, it is moulded rather than assembled so consistency across a run is high, and it sits at a price point that moves volume where leather does not. The trade off is tooling: a genuinely new shape needs a new mould, with cost and lead time attached, while an existing shape does not.

EVA is a closed cell foam, which means it does not absorb water. That is what makes it washable, quick drying and suitable for wet and warm climate use where leather struggles. It rinses clean and needs no conditioning or polishing. The trade offs worth knowing: prolonged direct sunlight and high heat can soften or distort moulded EVA over time, so it should not be left in a car windscreen or dried on a radiator, and the material compresses gradually with heavy daily use rather than cracking. For a retailer, that means care instructions are simple, returns for material failure are low, and the product suits climates where leather footwear does not last.

Yes. Colour in moulded EVA is set at the compound stage rather than applied afterwards, so it runs right through the material rather than sitting on the surface, which is why it does not scuff off in the way a coated finish can. Send a reference or a colour standard at the brief stage. Because colour is set in the compound and the minimum order is 240 pairs per size per colour, your colour range is a real commercial decision: three colours across a six size run is three times the commitment of one.

It depends on how far the shape departs from an existing last. A different colour, strap treatment or finish on an existing shape needs no new tooling. A genuinely new sole profile or footbed shape does, and a mould carries both a cost and a lead time before any production starts. We will tell you plainly at the brief stage which category your design falls into, because the answer changes the economics of a first order significantly. Many buyers start on an existing shape to test the market, then commission tooling once volume justifies it.

Handmade footwear is hand lasted, hand stitched and hand finished by artisans rather than assembled on an automated line, which is a construction difference rather than a marketing description. Two practical consequences follow. There will be variation between pairs, and that variation is the character of the product rather than a defect, so your acceptance standard should say so explicitly. And output is bounded by artisan availability rather than machine capacity, so lead times behave differently from a factory line and should be planned accordingly.

Footwear sold to consumers in the European Union must carry material composition labelling under Directive 94/11/EC, and the United Kingdom applies equivalent requirements through its own regulations. The label identifies three parts: the upper, the lining and sock, and the outer sole. It states the material forming at least 80 percent of the surface area of the upper, at least 80 percent of the surface area of the lining and sock, and at least 80 percent of the volume of the outer sole. Note that upper and lining are assessed by surface area while the outer sole is assessed by volume. If no single material reaches 80 percent, the two main materials must both be shown. Accessories and reinforcements such as ankle patches, edging, ornamentation, buckles, tabs and eyelet stays are not counted when classifying the upper. Either pictograms or written indications may be used, and the information goes on the footwear itself, on at least one article of each pair, visible and securely attached.

Chromium VI is a leather restriction and does not apply to moulded EVA, which contains no leather, so for the bulk of our range the question does not arise. Where leather is involved it matters a great deal. Under the European REACH Regulation, Annex XVII entry 47, leather articles coming into contact with skin must not be placed on the market where they contain chromium VI at 3 mg per kg or more of the total dry weight of the leather, in force since May 2015, tested to EN ISO 17075. Four points catch buyers out: contact time is irrelevant, so a shoe worn with socks is not exempt; chromium VI can form from chromium III during processing, storage or after the product reaches the consumer; because leather is processed in batches and every hide differs, testing is the only certain proof; and the 3 mg per kg figure sits at the detection limit of the reference method, so there is no comfortable margin. We can arrange per batch testing on advance request, since it means coordinating with the tannery ahead of production.

India is the second largest footwear producing country in the world after China, accounting for roughly a ninth of global production, with the large majority of output serving the domestic market. The established export categories recorded by the Council for Leather Exports are dress shoes, casuals, moccasins, sports shoes, huaraches, sandals, ballerinas, boots, and chappals in rubber, plastic and PVC. Leather footwear is the single largest component of the export basket, and traditional constructions such as Kolhapuri chappals and embroidered and Khadi styles form a distinct segment with no real substitute origin. The leading destinations are the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Italy, France, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

Classification under Chapter 64 of the tariff turns on the upper material and the sole material in combination, rather than on either one alone. That means two shoes which look similar can classify differently and carry different duty rates. Footwear duties into some markets are among the highest applied to any consumer product category, so the classification decision has a material effect on landed cost. Agree the classification with your customs broker before production rather than after.

Because fit is judged on one size and graded from it. If samples are approved across several sizes without a nominated base size, the resulting size run tends to fit inconsistently, and that is one of the most common reasons a footwear range underperforms at retail despite passing every inspection. Nominating the base size at the sampling stage costs nothing and prevents it.

Most established brands and retailers arrive with their own restricted substances list, which is usually stricter than the legal minimum and is contractual rather than regulatory. Send it with the brief so the testing scope can be set against it. Testing against a generic panel when a specific list applies is the most avoidable way to fail an inspection.

Minimum order is 240 pairs per size per colour. That is worth reading carefully, because it is per size and per colour rather than per style, which is the usual point of confusion. A single style in one colour across a six size run is therefore 1,440 pairs. The structure exists because production is set up per size and per colour, so your size curve is a commercial decision worth settling before sampling rather than after.

Yes, there is a sample charge, and shipping is billed separately. Sample lead time is a minimum of seven days from confirmed specification, longer where new tooling or unusual materials are involved. Paying for samples is standard practice in footwear and it is worth the money, because the approved pre production sample becomes the written quality benchmark that every subsequent container is inspected against.

UK, EU and US sizing are all available, graded to whichever standard your market uses. Tell us the system and the size run at the brief stage, because grading is built into the last and the pattern rather than adjusted afterwards. Since the minimum order is 240 pairs per size per colour, the size curve is a commercial decision as much as a technical one.