The Sample Factory | Shoe Prototype Making

4 simple sample steps

Inspiration

Create your own design
Start from our 500 shoe designs per season
Enter a global network of footwear professionals

Creation

Provide your own shoe lasts, outsoles and materials
Select from our +400 lasts, footwear fashion materials or sourcing service

Sampling

Be involved in every step of the process
Launch, review & approve your shoe samples

Production

Perfect footwear prototypes to use in collection or marketing
Small production batches
Sales samples for your agents
Quotation for mass production

Based on your sample needs, we will offer you the best price. Get in touch.

Book an appointment

What others say

“The Sample Factory helped me to bring my creative vision of my first footwear collection to life! Thanks to their expertise, I was able to take my collection to the next level!”

Alesha Polak

“Sometimes you overlook certain important technical aspects when creating a shoe collection. Thanks to the guidance of the sample factory team, I was able to take every technical detail into account, without losing my creativity.”

Ravi O’ Leigh

Who we are

The Sample factory is a shoe sample making factory located in Dongguan, China’s n° 1 footwear district.

With more than 25 years of experience in shoe sample making, The Sample Factory is the perfect environment with all tools and people to deliver a high quality footwear samples service for brands & retailers in need of footwear sample capacity.

The Sample Factory is the one stop solution for brands and retailers looking for a high quality footwear sample service.

The Sample Factory is located close to Dongguan, the word’s fashion heart of the footwear industry where we have acquired both a strong material sourcing background and a top level technical knowledge. Our R&D centre comprises 3D printers and a SATRA certified lab to enable us to keep innovating and offering production of high quality standard footwear samples.

Since we started we have secured a vast portfolio of international brands and retailers. We believe in a mutually beneficial long lasting relationship based on mutual trust and respect. In order to achieve this, we ensure that the shoe sample quality is outstanding, fair pricing for all parties and consistent on-time delivery.

Our passionate crew commits itself to handle each and every shoe of the 100.000 samples a year with love and respect.

In a nutshell

High quality shoe samples

With decades of footwear making experience we ensure high quality standard shoe production. Our quality is guaranteed with all required certificates.

Fixed and transparent pricing

Whether you’re a big brand or a starting shoe designer, our prices are affordable and transparent for everyone.

Fast and reliable

With more than 400 shoe moulds & lasts available to create your own shoe designs we can deliver footwear samples in only 2 weeks. We guarantee full discretion and protection of your intellectual property.

Research and development in house

With our in-house developing center, we provide flexible and high efficiency shoe sampling production. Between brainstorming, designing, and prototyping we make sure your vision becomes reality. We offer you the best developing solution to optimize pricing, quality, and delivery of products, enhancing speed to market.

Commercialization to production

Our footwear experts work closely with you to assess your particular needs using market research, retail and fashion trend forecasts, and innovative technology to handle all types of projects from first prototyping to mass production.