The Art Of Shoemaking

260 INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES

Our shoes and boots are built to last by Artisans with a wealth of experience. Looked after properly, there’s no reason why a pair of our high quality shoes or boots shouldn’t last you for many years or even a lifetime. This is thanks to the incredible care and attention lavished on every pair by our craftsmen and women in Northampton, the traditional home of English shoe making. Every single pair of boots or shoes is the result of 260 individual processes. All of them are carried out by master shoemakers who have learned their trade over many years.

CLICKING ROOM

It takes a long time to Master the skill to cut out the distinctive patterns of each pair of high quality hand-made shoes and boots. Clickers have to judge in which direction to cut the leather, and how the hide they are working with will stretch to fit a foot perfectly. Only when they are completely satisfied will a clicker set to work, cutting against the brass-bound edge of their pattern, and making the distinctive ‘clicking’ sound that gives their craft its name.

CLOSING ROOM

Sewing together the different pieces to create a single upper for a shoe or boot is a craft that takes years to learn. This is where shoemakers add eyelet holes, rivets and the brogue patterns that make every pair of shoes and boots unique. This is also the room where 'skiving' is done, which is the painstaking process of hand-thinning leather. Once the uppers are closed (sewn together), they are then hung for a number of days to moisturise, so that the leather will always be supple and flexible. Every pair are then labelled and numbered, giving it a unique identity.