The Marikina city government, known for its shoe-making industry, under Mayor Marides Fernando is responsible for the creation of two giant shoes. The crafting of the shoes were part of a bid to break the Guinness World Records on the "largest shoes in the world" as well as an attempt to boost the city's reputation in shoe-making globally.[1]
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.[1][2] They decided to make a pair of men's shoes for stability and were hesitant of making high-heeled women's shoes. Bulacan-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 Шаблон:Philippine peso (US$23,076) and each has a dimension of Шаблон:Convert[1] The footwear are Oxford shoes.[2]
Unveiling and subsequent display
The giant shoes of Marikina were formally unveiled in October 2002.[1] The shoes were officially recognized as the largest in the world in December 2020 by Guinness World Records, surpassing the Шаблон:Convert long right shoe designed by Zahit Okurlar of Turkey.[2]
The footwear was subsequently displayed at the Marikina Sports Park[2] and later at the Marikina Shoe Gallery at the Riverbank Mall until the latter's closure in late 2020.[3][4]
By 2013, the Marikina giant shoes had already lost the Guinness World Records distinction. In April 2013, Hong Kong shoe distributor Electric Sekki manufactured a Шаблон:Convert replica of a Superga 2750 shoe.[5][6]
The shoes are distinct from the giant red shoe which was formerly displayed on a barge in the middle of the Marikina River.[7]
In November 12, 2020, that landmark at the Riverbanks Center hit a bridge before it became completely damaged by Typhoon Vamco Typhoon Ulysses.[8]
