That really depends on your perspective. Sure, no one needs a shoe where the design and manufacturing is broken down all the way to each individual thread. And

That really depends on your perspective. Sure, no one needs a shoe where the design and manufacturing is broken down all the way to each individual thread. And the vast majority of people wouldn't notice a difference wearing footwear made 20+ years ago. But that doesn't mean all innovation is pointless either. A new way of manufacturing won't have the same tradeoffs and limitations, the setup costs, tolerances, material properties. Direct injection is how Adidas makes something like 350 million pairs of shoes a year now. And they have been selling 3d printed soles with knit uppers for a couple years now. The innovation in this story is more about the design and the manufacturing process than the materials. You can't buy size 13.5, or wide or narrow(except a few models), or a pair where one is a half size smaller or larger traditionally. And beyond just the sizing, there is a lot more aesthetically when you are customizing at the individual level.