These red and black oxfords were made for a woman who works in an amazon warehouse and is required to wear safety toe shoes. She has some issues with her feet which made the wearing of off the shelf shoes impractical and uncomfortable. These are made with La Ruota vegetable tan red and black suede. They also feature a basalt fiber safety toe.
Warehouse Sole
The soles are made from an oil resistant non-slip compound with non-slip tread design — the Vibram Bare Work. This sold was designed specifically for the polished concrete floor work environment.
Safety Toe
According to the ASTM F2413-18 standard, a safety toe is required to withstand an impact force of “75 pounds.” This is more accurately expressed as 100 joules of impact energy.
I tried many methods to mold the toecap. One was to make a mold of the toe of the last, then to cast than in silicone to use for molding the toe caps.
Impact Testing
I made quite a few testers on this. Below is a toe cap being tested. A new one was made for the final shoes after the prototype passed the test.