Designer Shoe Size Charts: Premiata, Calvin Klein, Armani and Timberland

Designer shoe size charts from Premiata, Calvin Klein, Armani and Timberland follow different rules: Premiata and Calvin Klein start from the European number, Timberland from the American one, and the same EU 38 is tied to anything from 23 to 24.5 cm (9.06 to 9.65 in) depending on the brand. Below is a combined table built from the brands’ official charts next to a reference grid based on foot length, plus the kids’ charts and an explanation of why the numbers do not line up.

Premiata, Calvin Klein and Timberland shoe size chart compared

Rows run by European size, 35 to 47. The first columns come from the site’s reference grid: the foot length that falls on each EU number, in centimetres and inches, and the UK and US sizes the standard formulas give for it. The rest reproduce the brands’ official charts as published.

Premiata cells hold UK, US and Japanese size. Timberland gives US, UK and centimetres, Calvin Klein US and centimetres, both split into men’s and women’s ranges. A dash means the brand has no row for that whole EU number: Timberland’s men’s chart jumps from EU 46 to 47.5, its women’s chart starts at 35.5.

The brands measure centimetres differently. Timberland asks you to trace the foot, draw a line 0.5 cm (about 0.2 in) beyond the longest point and compare that distance with its CM column. Calvin Klein does not say what was measured. Premiata’s Japanese size equals foot length in centimetres.

Premiata size chart

Premiata builds its chart from the European number in half sizes. The chart on its product pages runs from EU 36 to 47 with UK, US and Japanese sizes. Rows 36 to 37.5 are marked W and convert on their own pattern: EU 36 is UK 3 and US 6, while EU 38 is UK 4 and US 5.

From EU 38 up the pattern is regular: UK is the EU number minus 34, US is UK plus one, and the Japanese size grows by half a centimetre per half size. EU 40 is UK 6, US 7, JP 25; EU 44 is UK 10, US 11, JP 29.

Premiata’s size guide page adds a separate women’s chart from EU 34 to 42.5, where EU 38 is UK 5 and US 8, a full UK size above the product-page chart. One brand, two conversions for the same number.

For sneakers Premiata gives a length and width table per model. Men’s size 42 runs from 272 to 288 mm long, women’s size 38 from 251 to 263 mm. A 16 mm spread, about 0.63 in, is more than two European sizes.

Calvin Klein shoe size chart: men’s and women’s

Calvin Klein’s official store builds both charts from the European number and adds the US size and centimetres. The men’s chart covers EU 37 to 46, the women’s EU 35 to 42, whole sizes only.

Men’s US is the EU number minus 33: EU 42 is US 9, EU 44 is US 11. Women’s US is the EU number minus 30: EU 38 is US 8, EU 40 is US 10. For one European number the two US sizes are three apart.

The centimetres grow unevenly. From EU 39 to 42 each size adds 3 mm (25.1, 25.4, 25.7, 26 cm); from EU 37 to 39 the step is about a centimetre. A European size step, the Paris point, is 6.67 mm, so these centimetres are a rough guide to check against measured foot length. The men’s chart also adds letters from XS (EU 37–38) to XL (EU 45–46).

Timberland size chart: men’s, women’s and kids’

Timberland’s chart opens with the US column: the brand sizes in American numbers and gives EU, UK and centimetres as conversions, in US half sizes.

Men’s US is half a size above UK (US 9 is UK 8.5); women’s US is two above UK (US 7 is UK 5). The men’s chart covers US 5 to 15 (EU 37.5 to 50), the women’s US 5 to 11 (EU 35.5 to 42).

One length gives different numbers in the two ranges. At 24 cm (9.45 in) the men’s chart lists US 5.5 and 6 (EU 38 and 39), the women’s US 7 (EU 38). At 26.5 cm (10.43 in) it is men’s US 8.5 (EU 42) and women’s US 9.5 (EU 41).

The Timberland kids’ size chart has two runs: US 0 to 13, then US 1 to 7 again. Sample rows:

• US 4: EU 20, UK 3.5, 12 cm;
• US 12: EU 30, UK 11.5, 18.5 cm;
• second run US 1: EU 32.5, UK 13.5, 20 cm;
• second run US 7: EU 40, UK 6.5, 25 cm.

Premiata kids’ shoe size chart

Premiata’s children’s chart lists only the European number and centimetres. The brand groups kids’ shoes as newborn EU 16–19, first steps 18–24, kids 20–26, junior 27–35 and teen 36–39.

• EU 16: 10 cm, EU 20: 13 cm, EU 24: 16.5 cm;
• EU 28: 18.5 cm, EU 30: 20 cm, EU 34: 22.5 cm;
• EU 36: 23.5 cm, EU 38: 24.5 cm, EU 39: 25 cm.

Premiata puts EU 30 at 20 cm, Timberland at 18.5 cm, and the reference grid gives EU 30 for an 18.5 cm foot. A teenager’s pair chosen by one brand’s number can come out about two European sizes off at the other.

Armani shoe size chart

The combined table has no Armani numbers. Only official charts checked on the date of the update are used here, and an official Armani footwear size chart could not be loaded from armani.com on that date: the shoe listings offer a size filter, but no conversion chart came up with it.

The reliable reference for Armani is foot length in centimetres or inches, checked against the size information on the page of the specific model. Without that check an Armani number should not be carried over to another brand.

How designer sizes compare with foot length

The site’s reference grid converts measured foot length into EU, UK and US numbers by each system’s formula (Russian sizes in it follow GOST 11373-88), which makes it a yardstick for the brand charts.

In the grid EU 42 falls on a foot of 26.5–27.1 cm (10.43–10.67 in): UK 8.5, men’s US 9.5. Premiata gives EU 42 as UK 8, US 9, JP 27; Timberland as US 8.5, UK 8, 26.5 cm; Calvin Klein as US 9, 26 cm. All three put the US number half a size to a full size below the calculated one.

EU 38 in the grid is a foot of 23.8–24.4 cm (9.37–9.61 in), UK 5.5, women’s US 7.5. Timberland women’s gives US 7, UK 5, 24 cm; Calvin Klein women’s US 8, 24.5 cm; the Premiata product chart UK 4, US 5, JP 23.

So for one EU 38 the brands name lengths from 23 to 24.5 cm, more than two European sizes apart. A length measured at home says more than the number on the box.

Why shoe sizes differ between brands

There is no single conversion rule. EU sizes count in Paris points of 6.67 mm, UK and US sizes in barleycorns of a third of an inch, 8.47 mm, and the scales coincide only at certain points. Each brand rounds its own way: Timberland works from the US number, Premiata and Calvin Klein from the EU number.

A size number describes a last, and lasts differ: the allowance in front of the toes, the toe shape and the heel grip change from model to model, as Premiata’s 16 mm spread in sneaker size 42 shows.

The centimetres also mean different things: foot length for one brand, foot plus an allowance for another, an unexplained column for a third. They can be compared only after correcting for that.

What to do when a brand size does not fit your foot

The routine is the same for all four brands:

• measure both feet standing, in the evening, heel to longest toe, and take the longer length;
• use the chart on the page of the specific model, for Premiata sneakers the chart for that model;
• follow the brand’s measuring method: Timberland, for example, adds 0.5 cm to the traced outline;
• compare the length with the reference grid and with a size that already fits in another pair.

Brand charts offer nothing between rows. When the feet differ by half a size or more, a ready-made pair in one size fits one foot and pinches or slips on the other.

Bespoke shoes made to your foot instead of a brand size

At Sergey Grechushkin’s bespoke shoe workshop a brand size is not needed: both feet are measured and the last is built from those measurements. The workshop makes men’s and women’s shoes in Russian sizes 33 to 52, for feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm (8.27 to 13.27 in), and children’s shoes mostly for teenagers. Feet of different size get two lasts, with no upper limit on the difference.

• a pair on an individual last: from 100,000 roubles;
• a repeat pair on an existing last: from 100,000 roubles, from 4 weeks;
• consultation: free.

The last takes about six weeks, then one to three fittings of a trial pair; the first pair is ready in about ten weeks. The final price is set after measuring and choosing the model and leather. Visits are at the workshop in Moscow only, by appointment, 10:00 to 20:00, near Taganskaya metro.