From hide to box.
One pair, six stages.
This is how most of our trainers are made, in a family-owned atelier in northern Portugal. It isn't a high-volume factory and it doesn't try to be. A pair passes through at least 25 people, and quality comes before speed.
At the door.
Every delivery of leather and components is checked against the order and the approved sample: type, colour, thickness, finish. Each hide is also looked at for marks and colour differences. What doesn't match stays out of production.
Cutting.
Ten people work here. Five cut, five collect and check what was cut. Weak spots in the hide are avoided, the direction of the grain is followed, and left and right are matched.
Before the stitching.
Eight people prepare every piece. Edges are thinned so seams lie flat, thickness is evened out, weak areas are reinforced and the logo is stamped. You never see this stage. You feel it.
Stitching.
Sixteen people turn flat pieces into an upper, following the approved sample for every stitch line, thread and colour. This is where the small square goes on at the heel. Each production box is checked before it moves on.
On the last.
About nineteen people work here. The upper is stretched evenly around the last, which sets the shape and the fit. The sole is cleaned, treated and left to rest for about 30 minutes, then bonded on and pressed into place. This is where it becomes a shoe.
The box.
A last look at symmetry, size, colour, sole line and stitching. Left and right must match. Anything that falls short goes back to the department it came from. Only then come the tissue paper, the dust bag and the box. The box is recycled FSC® cardboard, printed with vegetable-based ink. Order one pair and that box is also the shipping box, so there is no second carton to throw away. The dust bag is made from recycled plastic. Keep it.
20 to 40 components.
Laces, comfort foam and heel counters come from makers about ten minutes from the atelier. The sewing thread comes from a maker in business since 1854. Each one is chosen, fitted and checked.
Made this way.
That's what's in the box.
The shoe, and everything that went before it.
