In today's marketplace, it seems like every product is "handmade." While I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it's true that in the leather goods industry, from manufacturers large and small, you'll find various claims of "made by hand" adorning their products. But are these claims always accurate? And more importantly, are Legacy Bootworks' shoes truly handmade?
The definition of "handmade" can vary widely depending on who you ask. For some, a shoe must only involve a machine when stitching the uppers, with every other aspect done by hand; no sanders, grinding wheels, etc. Others consider a shoe handmade as long as a human places it in the box before shipping.
The reality, however, lies somewhere in between: At Legacy Bootworks, we believe a shoe should be deemed handmade if it's hand-welted, hand-lasted, and crafted in small quantities. While seemingly arbitrary, these aspects hold significant importance for the quality and craftsmanship of any piece of footwear.
Image: A Hand-Welted insole. You can see how the artisan has sewn the welt, insole, and upper together by hand for a nigh-indestructible construction Credit: Sparrods & Co.
The Welt is the spine of the shoe, which when done by hand is accomplished by the maker taking a veg tan insole and proceeding to channel and feather it before stitching together the upper, insole, and welt by hand. The welt is stitched directly to the upper, creating an extremely strong union between the most critical structures of the shoe. This construction also, to an extent, allows the shoe to better form to the wearer’s foot and offers improved durability when compared to Goodyear Welting, which uses a canvas rib and machine-stitched welt rather than a hand-channeled insole and hand-sewn welt to form the basis of the shoe.
Image: Hand-lasting of a hand-welted shoe. Here you can see Kostas of Misiu Academy (a pillar of the shoemaking community) carefully lasting the upper to the last. Credit: Misiu Academy
Hand-Lasting is an extremely-skill-intensive task requiring the artisan to stretch the upper by hand over the last. Every piece of leather is different, even from the same hide, and has different degrees to which they can be stretched and worked on the last. Doing this by hand allows the artisan to “feel” out the leather and achieve the purest shape of the last. Lasting machines are of course plentiful but lack any of the nuance and can cause unsightly stretching or even compromise the integrity of the upper if run on autopilot.
It should be noted that a hand-stitched sole is optional when considering whether a pair is handmade: while hand-stitching can achieve a higher number of stitches per inch (SPI), it provides no mechanical advantage as opposed to a machine stitch. Furthermore, when it comes time to resole the shoes there are few cobblers in the U.S. able to hand-stitch a sole to the same level as a skilled shoemaker. Machine stitching
Lastly, the importance of small-scale production lies in the attention to detail each pair can receive, as well as the motivating factors behind such production. A factory’s focus is on minimizing Cost per Unit, which means maximizing the quantity of shoes produced per day. A small workshop will finish perhaps a couple thousand shoes per year as opposed to tens of thousands (e.g. Allen Edmonds, Crocket & Jones, etc.) - this ensures that every pair gets considerable hands-on time.
All of this is to say, these 3 qualities ensure that the most critical components of the shoes are executed via skilled artisans by hand, allowing them to provide ample attention to detail and ensure our values as a company align with customer expectations: Making great shoes, not a lot of shoes. All in addition to conveying tangible benefits to the end user.
So, are Legacy Bootworks' shoes truly handmade? Absolutely. Every pair is meticulously welted and lasted by hand in our small workshop, where production time averages about four weeks, and quantities do not reach anywhere near the thousands. Our materials, including Italian vegetable-tanned leather for welts, insoles, linings, and other components, reflect our commitment to quality and authenticity.
While definitions of "handmade" may vary, we are confident in labeling our collection as truly Handmade.
- Ali, Legacy Bootworks
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