My love of Red Wing began early one Saturday morning when I was thirteen years old. My father came into my room and woke me up and drove me to the Red Wing store in my hometown on the East Side of Cleveland to get my first pair of work boots. The excitement of the gift of work boots from my dad quickly faded when I realized that I was then being conscripted into weekends and summers of manual labor. What I leaned about working for my dad was sort of surprising to me; I loved working outside and I loved manual labor. When the job was done, you are done. And each day held huge feelings of accomplishment. It was through this experience that my life long appreciation and connection to the Red Wing Shoe Company was forged.

A great part of buying a Goodyear-welted boot was the fact that I could have them re-soled, and even have it done multiple times. When you are doing physical work on your feet all day, it doesn’t take you long to realize that breaking in new boots adds a seriously unwanted wrinkle into earning a paycheck. My solution was to own two pairs of Red Wings. When the soles on one pair would wear out, I would send them in to be re-soled and would wear the back up pair while they were away. So if a pair was at the factory being re-crafted, the other pair would be comfortably on my feet. For me, breaking in new boots on the job was a thing of the past.

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There’s a shoe repair place called Brass in Tokyo like no other I have ever been to. The guys from Red Wing Japan took me there last time I was in country. Often it’s those moments — like when I was first introduced to Brass in person — that make me realize the Japanese can still do ‘Americana’ better than Americans. I could easily see a place like Brass in Portland or Brooklyn or L.A., but I doubt it would have the customer base to actually survive. Maybe I’m wrong though.

Guys come from all parts of Tokyo to have Brass resole their Goodyear welted shoes. In the shop I saw footwear from Alden, Edward Green, Wesco and of course Red Wing; it wasn’t just fine leather bottom shoes it was a mix of brands and styles. That is something that impressed me about Brass. Normally in New York you go to a repair shop and they can redo a pair of Aldens (and know their stuff), but I’ve seen a lot of boots come out of those shops that just look ridiculous. I take my shoes to Mouded Shoe on 39th Street or to VIP on 55th, but never my boots — those get sent back to the OEM. Red Wing has a pretty amazing shoe repair facility in Minnesota (which I have seen a few different times) and Allen Edmonds also has a great repair service which I have also toured. But if I lived anywhere near Brass I would definitely have to try out their service.

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Three generations of the Rancourt family have been making shoes in Maine since the mid-1960s. Over the years the company has made shoes for a variety of big American shoe companies, passing the hand-sewing skills down from generation to generation. Recently the company has moved into a new facility in Lewiston, Maine where, in addition to making shoes for a host of well respected brands, the Rancourts recently begun to more widely offer the shoes it makes under its own label, Rancourt & Co. To this end Rancourt just launched it’s own online shop where you can purchase the company’s fine handsewn shoes — everything from Horween shell cordovan beefroll penny loafers to traditional moccasin style leather shoes — direct from the makers in Maine.

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Yesterday the folks at New Balance launched the company’s new custom 574 program which allows you to take to the internet and create your own specially designed sneakers. Last week we tested out the system at the launch event here in New York and it worked like a snap. In fact it shockingly only took five days for the special 574s (which were sent compliments of New Balance) to show up straight from the New Balance plant in Norridgewock, Maine. In anticipation of the launch of the custom 574 program, New Balance even dispatched a guy named Jake Davis and some other guy named Sean Sullivan to Maine to document the custom make up process at the factory. You can basically design the entire shoe all the way down to the color of the big N and the custom embroidery on the back of each sneaker. The possibilities are endless. [New Balance Custom 574]

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Honest handsewn shoes for an honest price, that’s the way it is done at Wassookeag. The tiny company sells a selection of moccasins that are made by hand — one at a time — by proprietor Mark Wintle in the central Maine town of Dexter. “I have only officially been handsewing my own moccasins for about six months now,” he said. “However, I have been under the direct tutelage of my father who has been handsewing shoes for over 40 years and has been making moccasins for about 25 years.”

With the growing popularity of hand sewn American-made shoes, it seems like now is as good as time as ever to get into the shoe making business. “I recently quit my high tech career, moved back to Maine — where I grew up — to start my own business, making moccasins,” says Wintle. “I thoroughly enjoy working for myself and working beside my father every day.”

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It is that time of year when the real anticipation starts to take hold, anticipation for stuff that doesn’t come out for months. To that end, allow me to introduce to you to some nice looking (“tasty” as my buddy Mr. Aaron Levine would say) boots from the Red Wing North America AW11 collection. Just a little sneak peek of what’s to come.

Red Wing 8881 in Olive Mohave

Red Wing 8881 in Olive Mohave

Red Wing 8881 in Olive Mohave

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What began as the Converse Rubber Company in 1908, has continued on to become one of the most recognizable footwear brands the world over. Throughout its hundred plus years of existence, Converse has created all types of functional footwear for fishing, camping, hiking and of course basketball. The company even made military footwear for the U.S. government starting in World War II. Like a lot of the brands seen on these pages, Converse has a rich history of making classic American footwear that stands the test of time.

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If you are like me and you wear a lot of leather footwear, you use a shoe horn every day. Otherwise getting into your boots can be a giant pain. The way I see it, buying a well made shoe horn is a smart move, even if it costs you a few bucks. It is an especially good investment when you consider a well made device will probably last you a lifetime. Abbeyhorn of Carnforth, England has been making fine shoe horns using time-tested methods since 1749 and the company has become known as the gold standard of shoe horn makers. Any product that has been made in the same manner since 27 years before America was even founded can’t be too bad, now can it.

Being someone that likes to see how things are manufactured, I managed to find the above video from the Abbeyhorn factory showing how these fine shoe horns are made. In the video you can see Oxen horns be transformed into the most handsome of instruments. It is an amazing thing to watch, even if you can’t understand a word of what is being said during the process.

There are a few ways to get your hands on some of these beautiful shoe horns. Submit a catalog request and order direct from England the old fashion way, or if you are in New York City you can head over to Leffot and get them straight away. Even if you aren’t in town, I’m sure Steven at Leffot will be happy to help you over email or the phone.

[Abbeyhorn Official Link] [Abbeyhorn at Leffot]

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This past summer I took a trip to visit the Horween tannery in Chicago. The purpose of the trip was to document the process of making shell cordovan for Wolverine. (Full disclosure, Wolverine is a client of my marketing firm Paul + Williams.) The cordovan would eventually be used in the making of the newly released Wolverine 1000 Mile 721LTD boots. To be able to go out there, see the Horween plant and document everything was really an amazing experience. To follow the process of making these special (and damn-good-looking in my totally-unbiased-opinion) boots was definitely the highlight of my summer and something I am really proud to have been a part of. While the cameras were rolling I tagged along shooting hundreds of photos of Horween, which up until now, have been sitting in a folder on my computer. With the boots just landing in stores I feel like it is time to show you all some of my favorites from Horween. (I also have a photo series from the factory where the boots were made. Standy by for that.) I can say for certain that the legend of Horween is 100% real and was something experienced first hand with them this summer in Chicago. You’d be hard pressed to find better people. They remind me of the folks back home in Ohio — salt of the earth.

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If this page of L.L. Bean’s 1939 catalog doesn’t inspire someone (hopefully Bean itself) to remake at least two of the three pairs of footwear pictured, I am going to be very disappointed. Requirements: 1. shoes must be made from Horween (Elk) leather (though I don’t think such a thing exists. Nick if you are out there chime in) and 2. must be handsewn in Maine. Anyone that does this, let me know and I will personally flog said boots until you sell at least 100 pairs.

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News of the launch of the Wolverine 1000 Mile collection first came in February of 2009. It was around that time that I met some of the people from Wolverine and wrote about the collection. Later, Wolverine invited me to a little event they put together in the city and I got a chance to meet all of the people involved in the 1000 Mile line — all good people. After that we started talking more and eventually Wolverine hired my public relations firm to help out with the 1000 Mile Collection — which has been a lot of fun. (In case you missed it, that was my full disclosure.)

A project that we have been working on over the past several months is the special edition, limited-quantity Wolverine 1000 Mile boot with the imprint 721LTD. The undertaking, which is named for the original 1000 Mile boot reference number, was pulled directly from the company’s archives from over 125 years of boot making. To celebrate the provenance of the 721LTD boots, Wolverine commissioned a film series (directed by my friend Sean Sullivan) to document the journey of these unique 1000 Mile boots. The opening chapter takes you on a pilgrimage to Chicago to visit the Horween leather company, America’s finest tannery and supplier of shell cordovan to the 721LTD 1000 Mile boots.

I’m proud and excited to share this short film with you and to take you inside Horween, a truly special place and national treasure. These kinds of projects are what it is all about for me. To work with good people like the folks at Wolverine, Sullivan and all of the people at Horween on something as legitimate as the 1000 Mile boots.

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Pacific Northwest bootmaker Danner recently gave its website a little sprucing up (punny, I know), and I have to say things turned out very well. The new site is clean and simple, easy to navigate and features some great imagery. One section in particular really stood out and was the inspiration for this post. The top navigation bar features a main section called Standards, which features four factory tour videos, plus a few great looking photosets. It goes without saying that I love a good factory tour and the Danner Standards page definitely scratches that itch.

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