Rocket Scientists Making Shoes 

Walking a mile in women's shoes may seem an unlikely departure for the two former Alumni Association presidents. Hughes' resume includes building the first Private Trans-Atlantic Telecommunication System and running his own hybrid rocket development company.
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When Hughes joined the board of HBN Shoe in 1999 he realized it was time to shift strategies. "We didn't understand the shoe business worked in fashion seasons. We finally got a line of shoes and brought them to the marketplace and the retailers said 'Fine. What are you doing for fall?' We realized then that a bunch of MIT folks trying to design women's shoes was a big mistake. We had this great technology…why not sell it to other people who make shoes and make their shoes better and let them deal with the fashion stuff?"
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Insolia made its American debut in Nordstrom stores in May in Amalfi brand high heels. The technology is "invisible" and built into the shoe, so you may not notice unless you look on the sole for the Insolia logo or you try them on and feel the difference. "My working definition of success," says Hughes, "will be when I can walk into Saks Fifth Avenue and watch somebody look at a pair of shoes and the first thing they do is look on the bottom for our logo."

  Posted at 8:35 AM by Nick |   |   |  

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