14 · The Sampling Cycle

Weeks 14–16 · 60 hours across three weeks

Objective

Run a professional sampling process: know what each sample round is for, how to evaluate a sample rigorously, and how to write comments a factory can act on without ambiguity.

Why it matters commercially

Sampling is where your shoe becomes real, and where most of your remaining risk lives. Each round costs weeks and money. Brands that sample well need two rounds; brands that sample badly need five and run out of both.

Core concepts

The rounds and what each one is for

Round Also called Purpose What you’re judging
Last confirmation Approve the last before anything is built on it Shape, volume, profile
Pull-over Fitting upper Upper pulled over the last, no sole Pattern accuracy, panel proportions, how lines sit in 3D
Proto / P sample 1st sample, development sample Prove the construction works Construction, fit, proportion. Materials and colours are often wrong on purpose — don’t panic
2nd / 3rd proto Correct the proto’s faults Whatever you commented on
Salesman sample / SMS Sales sample Selling and photography Correct materials and colours, presentable finish
Fit / wear-test sample Real-world validation Comfort over hours, hot spots, durability
Size-run sample Grading sample Validate grading Fit at the extremes of your size run
Confirmation / PP sample Pre-production, golden sample The contractual reference Everything. This is what bulk is judged against

The golden sample. When you approve the confirmation sample, you sign and date it, the factory keeps one signed pair and you keep one signed pair. Bulk production is judged against it. If a dispute arises, the golden sample is the evidence. Never skip this, never approve it by photograph.

Your Week 13–19 plan runs: proto (W13–16) → corrected sample with correct materials (W16–19) → confirmation approval (W19), with a size-run sample requested alongside round two. If round two isn’t right, take a third and slip the schedule. Shipping a bad shoe is more expensive than shipping a late one.

How to evaluate a sample

Do this systematically, over two sessions, not in the excited first ten minutes.

Session 1 — against the spec (2h). With tech pack open:

  • Check every BOM line against what’s physically there
  • Measure everything you dimensioned: topline heights, eyelet spacing, logo position, panel breaks, stack heights
  • Check panel shapes against your drawings
  • Check colour against your lab dips, in daylight
  • Check stitching: seam type, rows, SPI, thread colour, straightness, backtacks
  • Check the bite line for evenness all the way round
  • Check the bond: press and flex the toe and heel, look for gaps or glue squeeze-out
  • Weigh the pair
  • Check both shoes against each other — asymmetry between left and right is a common and revealing fault

Session 2 — on foot (4h+). Wear them. Then wear them for a full day. Then have two other people in your sample size wear them.

  • Getting on and off — long heel girth
  • Heel hold walking and on stairs — short heel girth, counter
  • Toe room, both length and height
  • Where does it crease, and does the crease hurt?
  • Pressure points: eyestay edges, collar, tongue edges, backstay seam
  • Sole flex point — does it flex where your foot flexes?
  • Any noise, any slipping, any hot spots after 3 hours

Writing sample comments

The professional format: a comment sheet — one row per issue, with a photograph, the spec reference, what’s wrong, and the required correction. Not a paragraph of prose. Not a WhatsApp voice note.

# Photo Location Spec ref Issue Required correction Priority
1 img_01 Lateral quarter TP V02 p.7 Panel break sits 6mm too far forward Move panel break 6mm toward heel, per drawing Must fix
2 img_04 Collar TP V02 p.11 Foam too soft, collar collapses Increase collar foam density; send two options Must fix
3 img_09 Topline — Topline height 58mm, spec 54mm Reduce to 54mm ±2mm Must fix
4 img_12 Backstay TP V02 p.9 Stitch 6 SPI, spec 8 SPI Correct to 8 SPI Should fix

Use Must fix / Should fix / Note only. This prioritisation is a gift to the factory and dramatically improves what comes back.

Number your photographs and reference them. Annotate them with arrows. Send one PDF, not fourteen images.

Managing the relationship through sampling

  • Reply within 48 hours, always. Your responsiveness sets theirs.
  • Approve loudly what’s right, not just what’s wrong. Factories rarely hear this and it changes how they treat you.
  • When you change something, note that it’s a change and accept it may affect price and date.
  • Ask “what would you do?” on anything you’re unsure about. They’ve made a hundred thousand shoes.

Do this

Week 14 — while the proto is in production (20h)

  1. Build your sample evaluation checklist as a reusable document (4h).
  2. Build your comment sheet template (2h).
  3. Wear-test protocol: write the exact protocol you’ll use, including who tests, for how long, and what they record (3h).
  4. Get ahead: start Module 15 reading on QC and testing (6h).
  5. Order the size-run/grading samples for round two (1h).
  6. Outreach: material suppliers, lab dip requests, packaging suppliers (4h).

Weeks 15–16 — proto arrives and round two ordered (40h)

  1. Full spec evaluation, Session 1 (3h).
  2. Wear test, Session 2, across several days (6h across the fortnight).
  3. Third-party eyes: three people handle and wear the sample and give you unfiltered reactions (3h).
  4. Write the comment sheet (6h). Photograph properly — daylight, plain background, consistent angles.
  5. Video call with the factory to walk through the comment sheet live (2h). Do not rely on email alone for a first sample review.
  6. Issue tech pack V03 with all corrections incorporated, and order round two with correct materials and colours (6h).
  7. Approve lab dips physically (2h).
  8. Start Module 15 in earnest (12h).

Deliverable. A reusable evaluation checklist and comment sheet template; a completed, photographed comment sheet for the proto; documented wear-test results from at least three people; tech pack V03; a confirmed round-two order including size-run samples; physically approved lab dips.

Self-check

  • What is a pull-over sample for, and why would you ask for one?
  • Why are materials often wrong on a proto, and why is that fine?
  • What is a golden sample and what makes it contractually important?
  • Give the columns of a good comment sheet.
  • Name six things to check on foot that you cannot check on a table.

Traps

Approving from photographs. Never. Not the sample, not the lab dips, not the packaging.

Emotional first reactions. Your first sample will disappoint you. That is universal and expected. Wait 24 hours before writing comments.

Vague comments. “The toe looks off” produces another wrong sample. “Reduce toe box height by 4mm at the centre, per revised drawing p.7” produces a right one.

Changing the design during sampling. Correcting faults is sampling. Redesigning is starting over. Know which one you’re doing and be honest with yourself about it.

Not wear-testing. A shoe that photographs beautifully and hurts after two hours will generate returns and never a second order.