Intention-wise this is less of a manufacturing video and more of a commercial, but it still provides a good, if fleeting, look at the various processes required to make a sneaker.

New Balance's US574 kicks are customizable via their website, and if you're wondering why the turnaround is so fast for U.S. customers—just 4-8 business days, versus the weeks or months you'd wait for a NikeID product—it's because New Balance does something unusual: They actually manufacture them in the United States. I know what you're thinking—"What? There's actually a company that forgot to close their U.S. factories and fire all the workers?" But for reasons unknown, New Balance keeps 1,200 New Englanders in jobs out of five different facilities.

There's a Flickr page of the goings-on in NB's Maine factory here.