Let's get technical
Have you ever wondered how the finest shoes are constructed?
Following you will find examples of the GoodYear Welt found on a lot of our dress shoes and boots.
There are three basic methods of shoe construction: Blake welting, Cementing and Goodyear welting.
We use two of these currently. Original Goodyear production methods on our dress shoes and boots. Cementing is used for all of our casual styles. Each of them has its advantages, and defines how the sole is attached to the upper.
Goodyear Welt
Original Goodyear welting is the oldest, most labor intensive, and most durable of the three methods of construction.
For the past 300 years, the Original Goodyear Welting process has been synonomous with exceptional workmanship.
Some Fun Facts:
60 craftsmen are usually involved in the manufacturing process of creating one of our Goodyear shoes.
25 and 50 different elements and pieces. Each style of shoe is obviously constructed slightly differently and the range of individual pieces required varies on the complexity of the design.
120 handcrafted phases, from beginning to end.
Around the early 1870's, Charles Goodyear, revolutionised shoe construction forever, inventing a sewing machine capable of stitching the welt to the insole, thus changing and improving the quality of footwear worldwide.
CEMENTING
Cementing is the fastest and best way to attach our rubber soles to our casuals. It is an extremely common way of attaching the sole for these flexible styles.
Once the upper is shaped and completed around the last, the sole is attached with an adhesive, and no welting is used.
Welcome to the SOLES of your feet
Here you will find examples of some of the soles we use across our range and others we are exploring for future development.
For more information on any of our construction methods, please email us: