Developing a Components List for a Shoe Repair Kit for Leather Sneakers, Designed for Consumer Use

Abstract: This thesis is being conducted by two final year Bachelor degree students, collaborating with a Swedish fashion brand producing leather sneakers with the aim to investigate the most common wear and tear of shoes in metropolitan and suburban environments. Shoes are readily known for having a relatively short product lifecycle and with few alternatives to prolong the materials usefulness at the end. Furthermore consumers find that the main problems that make them not want to repair, are mainly financial reasons and a lack of knowledge in repair methods. This study has conducted a survey to gain information of the most common wear and tears regarding shoes in order to meet what the consumers want for products in a repair kit. The study involved a qualitative interview about material expertise about the shoes used in this study with selected and qualified respondents from the fashion brand company. The data collected was sufficient to create a product list for a repair-kit and shows a PU-solution to repair damaged leather, heel patches to repair ripped lining, a cyanoacrylate glue to mend detached/broken outsoles and an informational manual should be the main components for the repair kit. This study is designed to work as a future recommendation specification of requirements to the company this study is collaborating with to prolong the time of usage for the shoes.