A giant pair of shoes made in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina ( fil, Lungsod ng Marikina), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 456,159 people. It is loca ...

, Philippines is a city attraction and was known for being the world's largest shoes according to

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. The city nicknamed "Shoe Capital of the Philippines" is known for its shoe-making industry.

Conception

The Marikina city government, known for its shoe-making industry, under Mayor

Marides Fernando Maria Lourdes "Marides" Carlos-Fernando (born February 10, 1957) is a Filipino politician who served as the Mayor of Marikina from 2001 until 2010. She is married to former MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, also a former city mayor of Marikina. She ...

is responsible for the creation of two giant shoes. The crafting of the shoes were part of a bid to break the

on the "largest shoes in the world" as well as an attempt to boost the city's reputation in shoe-making globally.

Crafting and dimensions

Marikina's giant shoes were made by Colossal Footwear, a 9-shoemaker team consisting of Norman Arada, Florinio de Asis, Daniel Cotter, Noel Cox, Arman Javier, Cesar Paz, Arthur Rivera, Emmanuel Samson, and Romel Villareal. They decided to make a pair of men's shoes for stability and were hesitant of making high-heeled women's shoes.

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

-based The Valenzuela Tannery was responsible for supplying the natural leather used for the making of the giant shoes. The shoes, which has a size of 753 according to French shoe size standards, took 77 days of crafting to be finished. The shoes costed (US$23,076) and each has a dimension of The footwear are

Oxford shoes Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

Unveiling and subsequent display

The giant shoes of Marikina were formally unveiled in October 2002. The shoes was officially recognized to be the largest in the world in December 2020 by the

surpassing the long right shoe designed by Zahit Okurlar of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The footwear was subsequently displayed at the

Marikina Sports Park The Marikina Sports Center, also known as Marikina Sports Park and formerly known as Rodriguez Sports Center, is a sports complex located in Marikina, at the corner of Shoe Avenue and Sumulong Highway in Metro Manila, Philippines. History Prior t ...

and later at the Marikina Shoe Gallery at the Riverbank Mall until the latter's closure in late 2020. The shoes are distinct from the giant shoes which were displayed on a barge in the middle of the

Marikina River The Marikina River ( tl, Ilog Marikina) is a river in eastern Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest tributary of the Pasig River, with headwaters located in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Rodriguez, Rizal province. The Marikina River us ...

. By 2013, the Marikina giant shoes has already lost its Guinness World Records distinction. In April 2013, Hong Kong shoe distributor Electric Sekki manufactured a replica of a

Superga Superga is a hill situated on the south bank of the river Po to the east of Turin in north-west Italy. At above sea level, it is one of the most prominent of the hills that ring the city. Superga is known for the Basilica of Superga and its ro ...

2750 shoe.

References

{{reflist Philippine footwear 2002 clothing Tourist attractions in Metro Manila Marikina 2002 in fashion Individual garments