Glossary · Glossaire
Footwear terms as factories use them, with the French equivalent in italics (usage in France, not Québec). Where a term is regional or a common synonym exists, both are given. A French-to-English index is at the end of the page.
Upper · Tige
Backstay · bande arrière / cache-couture — Vertical strip covering the centre-back heel seam. Common branding location.
Backer / scrim · renfort contrecollé — Fabric bonded behind a thin upper material to stop stretch and fraying.
Bite line · ligne de montage / ligne de semelle — The visible line where the sole unit meets the upper. One of the most scrutinised lines on a sneaker.
Collar · col — The padded ring around the ankle opening.
Eyestay / facing · garant — The reinforced strip carrying the lace holes.
Foxing tape · bande de foxing — Rubber band applied around the joint of upper and sole on vulcanized shoes.
Gusset · soufflet — A panel joining the tongue to the vamp so debris can’t enter.
Lasting margin · marge de montage — The 12–18mm of surplus upper material below the bite line, used to attach the upper to the bottom.
Mean forme / standard · standard / patron de base — The flat master pattern derived by flattening a taped last. All panels derive from it.
Medial / lateral · médial / latéral — Medial is the inside (arch side); lateral is the outside.
Mudguard · pare-boue — Raised panel wrapping the toe and lower sides.
Quarter · quartier — The side panel(s) between vamp and heel.
Skiving · parage — Thinning a material’s edge so folds and overlaps don’t create bulk.
SPI · points par pouce (in France usually quoted as points au cm) — Stitches per inch. 7–9 typical for sneaker uppers.
Throat · gorge — The opening the tongue sits in.
Topline · bord de tige / ligne de col — The edge of the collar opening.
Vamp · claque / empeigne — The panel covering the forefoot and toes.
Inside · Intérieur
Counter · contrefort — Stiff thermoplastic cup between upper and lining at the heel. Owns heel hold.
Lasting board / insole board · première de montage — Stiff cellulose board used in board-lasted construction.
Shank · cambrion — A stiffener under the arch.
Sockliner / footbed · première de propreté — The removable insert underfoot.
Strobel board · première Strobel — Fabric floor stitched to the upper’s lasting margin, forming a closed sock.
Toe puff / toe box · bout dur — Thermoplastic reinforcement at the toe. (Note: “toe box” also colloquially means the toe area, French le bout.)
Bottom · Semelle
Blown rubber · caoutchouc expansé — Foamed rubber outsole. Lighter, softer, less durable than carbon rubber.
Carbon rubber · caoutchouc carbone — Carbon-black-filled rubber. The durability standard.
Cupsole · semelle cuvette — Outsole molded as a cup with walls; the upper is cemented inside it.
Drop / offset · drop / dénivelé — Heel stack height minus forefoot stack height, in mm.
EVA · EVA (éthylène-acétate de vinyle) — Ethylene-vinyl acetate foam. The common midsole material.
Featherline · contour de forme / ligne de bord — The outline of the last’s underside; the sole must match it.
Gum rubber · gomme / caoutchouc naturel — Natural rubber, honey-coloured, grippy, marks and yellows.
Open mold / stock mold · moule de stock / moule ouvert — An existing sole mold you can use without paying tooling.
Outsole · semelle d’usure — The ground-contact layer.
Phylon · Phylon (EVA compressé) — Compression-molded EVA. The athletic midsole standard.
Shore A · dureté Shore A — Hardness scale for rubber. Sneaker outsoles typically 55–70.
Asker C · dureté Asker C — Hardness scale commonly used for foams. Sneaker midsoles typically 45–60.
Stack height · hauteur de semelle — Total material thickness underfoot at a given point.
Toe spring · relevé de bout — How far the toe lifts off the ground at rest.
Tooling · outillage — The machined molds that produce sole components. The main capital cost in footwear.
Wedge · semelle compensée — A full-length midsole with heel elevation.
Lasts and sizing · Formes et pointures
Ball girth · tour de bout — Circumference at the widest part of the forefoot. The primary fit measurement.
Cone · cône de forme — The upper rear portion of a last, often removable to allow extraction.
Grading · gradation — Deriving a full size run from a single developed size.
Heel-to-ball length · longueur talon–métatarses — Where the shoe flexes. Wrong value = painful creasing.
Instep girth · tour de cou-de-pied — Circumference over the arch. Controls lacing tightness.
Last · forme — The 3D form around which a shoe is built.
Long heel girth · grand tour de talon — Instep-around-heel circumference. Controls getting the shoe on.
Mondopoint · Mondopoint — Sizing by actual foot length in mm. The unambiguous system.
Paris point · point de Paris — The EU size increment: 2/3 cm (6.67mm).
Sample size · pointure d’échantillon — The size everything is developed in. Typically US men’s 9 / UK 8 / EU 42.
Short heel girth · petit tour de talon — Around the heel. Controls heel slippage.
Stick length · longueur de forme — Overall last length along the bottom.
Toe allowance · allongement de bout — Extra last length beyond the toes. 10–20mm typical.
Construction · Montage
Board lasting · montage sur première — Lasting margin cemented onto a stiff insole board.
Cold cement · montage soudé / collé — The dominant modern method: upper cemented to a pre-made sole unit.
Direct injection (DIP) · injection directe — Sole material injected directly onto the lasted upper.
Lasting · montage — Pulling the upper down over the last and securing it.
Slip lasting / California · montage California / montage chausson — Upper sewn to a sock lining and slipped onto the last. Very flexible.
Strobel lasting · montage Strobel — Margin stitched to a strobel board with a Strobel machine.
Vulcanization · vulcanisation — Curing rubber with heat and sulfur, fusing the sole assembly. Vans/Converse type.
Manufacturing & trade · Fabrication et commerce
AQL · NQA (niveau de qualité acceptable) — Acceptable Quality Limit. The statistical standard for pass/fail inspection.
BOM · nomenclature — Bill of Materials. Every component, specified.
Clicking die · emporte-pièce — Steel-rule cutting die for a pattern piece. One per piece per size.
Confirmation / PP sample · échantillon de confirmation / échantillon témoin — The final approved sample; bulk is judged against it. Also “golden sample.”
DUPRO · inspection en cours de production — During-production inspection.
FOB · FOB (franco à bord) — Free On Board. Price with goods loaded at origin port.
Incoterms · Incoterms — Standard terms defining where cost and risk transfer.
Lab dip · essai de teinte — A physical material sample dyed to your target colour, for approval.
LCL / FCL · groupage / conteneur complet — Less than / full container load.
Landed cost · coût rendu — FOB plus freight, insurance, duty and clearance.
MOQ · QMC (quantité minimale de commande) — Minimum order quantity.
Pull-over · tige montée d’essai — An upper pulled over the last with no sole, for pattern and proportion review.
Proto / P sample · prototype / échantillon de développement — First development sample. Construction proof; materials often wrong.
PSI · inspection avant expédition — Pre-shipment inspection.
Size curve · assortiment de pointures — The distribution of quantities across sizes in an order.
SMS · échantillon commercial — Salesman sample, made in correct materials for selling and photography.
Tech pack · dossier technique — The complete technical specification document.
Yield · rendement de coupe — How efficiently pattern pieces nest on a material. A major cost driver.
Compliance · Conformité
Chrome VI · chrome VI (chrome hexavalent) — Hexavalent chromium; a restricted substance that can form in improperly chrome-tanned leather.
GRS / RCS · GRS / RCS — Global Recycled Standard / Recycled Claim Standard.
HS / HTS code · code SH (Système harmonisé) — Tariff classification code. Footwear is Chapter 64.
LWG · LWG — Leather Working Group; the recognised environmental audit standard for tanneries.
REACH · REACH — EU chemicals regulation governing substances in articles.
RSL · liste des substances restreintes — Restricted Substances List.
SATRA · SATRA — Footwear research and test-method body; the source of many industry test standards.
Index français → anglais
French terms in alphabetical order, each with the English entry to look up above. Terms identical in both languages (EVA, Incoterms, Mondopoint, REACH, SATRA…) are not repeated.
- Allongement de bout — Toe allowance
- Assortiment de pointures — Size curve
- Bande arrière / cache-couture — Backstay
- Bande de foxing — Foxing tape
- Bord de tige / ligne de col — Topline
- Bout dur — Toe puff / toe box
- Cambrion — Shank
- Caoutchouc carbone — Carbon rubber
- Caoutchouc expansé — Blown rubber
- Claque / empeigne — Vamp
- Code SH — HS / HTS code
- Col — Collar
- Cône de forme — Cone
- Contour de forme / ligne de bord — Featherline
- Contrefort — Counter
- Coût rendu — Landed cost
- Dossier technique — Tech pack
- Drop / dénivelé — Drop / offset
- Échantillon commercial — SMS
- Échantillon de confirmation / témoin — Confirmation / PP sample
- Emporte-pièce — Clicking die
- Essai de teinte — Lab dip
- Forme — Last
- Franco à bord — FOB
- Garant — Eyestay / facing
- Gomme / caoutchouc naturel — Gum rubber
- Gorge — Throat
- Gradation — Grading
- Grand tour de talon — Long heel girth
- Groupage / conteneur complet — LCL / FCL
- Hauteur de semelle — Stack height
- Injection directe — Direct injection (DIP)
- Inspection avant expédition — PSI
- Inspection en cours de production — DUPRO
- Ligne de montage / ligne de semelle — Bite line
- Liste des substances restreintes — RSL
- Longueur de forme — Stick length
- Longueur talon–métatarses — Heel-to-ball length
- Marge de montage — Lasting margin
- Médial / latéral — Medial / lateral
- Montage — Lasting
- Montage California / chausson — Slip lasting / California
- Montage soudé / collé — Cold cement
- Montage Strobel — Strobel lasting
- Montage sur première — Board lasting
- Moule de stock / moule ouvert — Open mold / stock mold
- Nomenclature — BOM
- NQA — AQL
- Outillage — Tooling
- Parage — Skiving
- Pare-boue — Mudguard
- Petit tour de talon — Short heel girth
- Point de Paris — Paris point
- Pointure d’échantillon — Sample size
- Points par pouce / points au cm — SPI
- Première de montage — Lasting board / insole board
- Première de propreté — Sockliner / footbed
- Première Strobel — Strobel board
- Prototype / échantillon de développement — Proto / P sample
- QMC (quantité minimale de commande) — MOQ
- Quartier — Quarter
- Relevé de bout — Toe spring
- Rendement de coupe — Yield
- Renfort contrecollé — Backer / scrim
- Semelle compensée — Wedge
- Semelle cuvette — Cupsole
- Semelle d’usure — Outsole
- Soufflet — Gusset
- Standard / patron de base — Mean forme / standard
- Tige — Upper
- Tige montée d’essai — Pull-over
- Tour de bout — Ball girth
- Tour de cou-de-pied — Instep girth
- Vulcanisation — Vulcanization