In 2006, Paul Siragusa worked on the Crease Preventer Shoe Insert with a former partner and submitted it for U.S. Patent Approval (Patent Application 20100325817). The concept was sound, but Paul found it to be inadequate for protecting the entire toe box of the shoe. The concept did not account for the midsole or side walls of the toebox, leaving them unprotected and the product ineffective without the shoe being worn. He also found that using foams or fiber board eventually broke down and created bigger, broader creases throughout the toebox.

So, Paul evolved the Crease Preventer concept. Paul knew that conventional shoe trees are the top solution for protecting both men's shoes and women's shoes during travel and storage. But they did not lend themselves to use while being worn. So Paul worked towards a solution that combined the benefits of a traditional shoe tree and the crease preventer concept.

To execute his vision, Paul co-founded Box-Fresh LLC with Christopher Bousquet and Warren Benchoff. The newly formed team worked countless late nights to build a new shoe care product from the ground up.  Warren worked with paper mache and clay molds, moving to fiber glass templates that were used to develop the insert.  Adjusting and refining every step of the way to bring Paul's revolutionary concept to real product made by Plastic Injection. The result was the Wearable Shoe Tree (WO 2009/017730). At that point, Paul and Christopher switched the mindset to create a brand identity and bring the new inserts to market. They worked tirelessly on box-fresh.com which evolved into ikeepmykicksfresh.com then growing to become wearableshoetrees.com and finally sneakershields.com. Paul and Christopher hit every major sneaker forum and social website to get the word of mouth out about the newly named Strider (now the Universal) and Protector versions of the wearable shoe tree concept. 

Together, the WST Team has done everything possible to set up a solid base for the product to jump off of. It's about family for us. It's about growing our organization with the right talent and dedication to producing the best product and bringing the footwear industry to the next level.

If you would like to read more about our founder, Paul Siragusa, please visit his personal profile.