The Synthetic Shoe-In

Not since nylon and Dacron came along has a synthetic product stirred such interest and aggressive merchan dising as Corfam, Du Pont's new substi tute for leather. Put on sale only two months ago after years of develop ment, Corfam is already made in 100 different shoe styles by 32 manufac turers, is in such demand that Du Pont's pilot plant at Newburgh, N.Y., cannot keep up. The company is build ing a full-scale Corfam plant in Old Hickory, Tenn., and another in Malines, Belgium, to supply the European mar ket, is spending $2,000,000 to promote Corfam in attractive ads. Next week, as the National Shoe Fair opens in Manhattan, the $5 billion footwear in dustry will debate Corfam's ultimate effect on an industry that now sells 561.5 million pairs of shoes a year. At the same time, Du Pont will announce that Corfam will be used by ten more manufacturers and sold in 16 addition al regional markets.

Cops to Kids. Corfam is already one of the most tested and complex chem ical substances ever created. Porous, scuff-resistant, water-repellent, shape-retaining -- the properties are an ad writ er's dream -- it is basically a combina tion of polyester and polyurethane made into sheets resembling leather by an incredibly intricate process. Before put ting its shoes on the market, Du Pont passed out 19,000 pairs to human test ers who ranged from the Newburgh police force, through its own salesmen and secretaries, to kindergarten kids.

When testers complained at first of overheated feet, Du Pont changed the porosity of the material, which now has a million holes per sq. ft. At New burgh, torture-chamber machines bend the Corfam shoes millions of times, tear pieces of Corfam apart at high tension and abrasively duplicate the rubbing action of heels against shoe backs.

Du Pont is using a shrewd strategy in marketing its material. To establish reliability and chic, it has deliberately had the material put into higher-priced shoes--usually $20 and up. Once Corfam's prestige is established, Du Pont will gradually lower its price to embrace ever wider markets, moving next year into the $17-$20 shoe range. By next spring it also expects to enter the profitable children's field, where Du Pont already has a thriving competitor in tiny Arnav Industries of New Jersey, which is making a roughly similar material of its own for children's shoes. Britain's Courtaulds also makes a similar material, which will not breathe but will hold moisture in an inner layer until the shoe is removed. All competing processes will have to differ substantially from Du Pont's, since the firm holds patents on just about everything but the word shoe.

Aardvark to Zebra. The shoe, in fact, seems to be only the beginning of the possibilities for Corfam, which can be made in any thickness or consistency. Some stores are already selling women's handbags made of Corfam, and Corfam briefcases and luggage are being tested. Du Pont is working to put it into industrial gaskets and belting, and one sporting goods manufacturer is already making baseballs, basketballs and golf-club handles of Corfam. Corfam can also be fashioned into washable jackets, dresses, draperies, wall covers --and can be made to look like any kind of skin from aardvark to zebra.

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