car_shoe02DALLAS, Dec 14, 2009 / FW/ — D.I.Y (Do-it-yourself) has become D.Y.O (Design-your-own) for shoes aficionados as shoe makers and retailers as diverse as high-street label Car Shoe and manufacturing giants Nike and Converse, iconic Keds that holds the honor of being the first shoes called sneakers.

Milan-based, Prada-owned Car Shoe launched the new CAR SHOE MONOGRAM CS 1.0 sneaker. Based on the personalization concept, interacting with the physical product, the Car Shoe Monograms CS 1.0 enables a customer to design their own shoes by choosing from a wide range of variations and combinations of numbers, letters, colors and materials. Customers identify themselves through lettering and numbers. www.carshoe.com  

car_shoe01Shoe giant Nike through its Nike iD division offers this cool service which allows you to customize shoes and other products. First, you choose the type of shoe you want, then, through a web interface, you start designing your own pair of shoes. You can even specify different shoe sizes for each foot! nikeid.nike.com

Converse, which by the way is also owned by Nike also gives customers the freedom of designing their own shoes based on Converse’s iconic footwear – Chuck Taylor All Star and Jack Purcell, plus Skate, (PRODUCT) Red, running and court shoes. www.converse.com

Keds, on the other hand is allowing customers to design their own Keds shoes, wear them, even sell them online through its Keds Collective program.

Described by Keds as a place “where fashion, commerce and creativity converge” the Keds Collective is a place where individuality prevails. Offering infinite options for creating your own custom shoes, from selecting colors and patterns to adding your own original artwork and photography, the idea sells well to shoe lovers. www.keds.com