A Short History of LaDuca

A brief history of the LaDuca Company, maker of LaDuca tap shoes other dancing shoes, and dancewear.

The LaDuca company was founded by choreographer and dancer Phil LaDuca. LaDuca dancing shoes are made in Italy.

LaDuca decided to begin designing dancing shoes after he suffered a slipped disk. While he was recovering from his injury in 2000 he designed a flexible dancing shoe and contacted a small shoe factory in Italy about the possibility of manufacturing it. Over the next two years he developed his signature shoe design with a diagonal T-bar linking the toe cap to the ankle stratp.

In 2008 he launched a line of shoes for non dancers that were sold out of a store on Ninth Avenue and 40th Street in Hell's Kitchen, across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. That is the location where he formerly sold dancing shoes, but with the launch of the new line, his dancing shoe shop moved to Eight Avenue and 47th Street. He sold his for 600 pairs of shoes after he returned fro Italy to New York City.

He patented his design and i 2001 he opened a shop in a former video store on the ground floor of the Ninth Avenue apartment where he lived.

NYT "Lord of the Dance Shoe" Article

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