Training

Once I knew I wanted to create shoes, I spent many months searching for a ‘Maitre Bottier’, a master boot maker who would undertake to teach me how to make shoes by hand. In my search, many of these master artisans kept their knowledge well hidden, telling me that the manufacture of shoes was a skill reserved solely for men. In their mind women should stick to needlework not shoe-making. I did thankfully find one master artisan who agreed to pass on his knowledge to me, a wonderful man called Maurice Arnoult.

I remember the first time I entered his atelier and I saw his two apprentices who filled the tiny space with their presence. I soaked up the atmosphere, wooden shoe lasts; rolls of the softest skins; card backed patterns of all sorts upholstered every free space of wall. And so I found a space to sit, on the bench covered in tools and random objects, and I created my very first pair of shoes to my own measurements.

It wasn’t the easiest training, even for the most passionate, but Maurice knew just the right words to explain both the gestures and the magic it takes to create a very special shoe. Thanks to him, I knew that my dreams were not in vain. For ten years, he mentored me and shared his immense experience and unique knowledge with me, bringing to life the history of shoemaking from the earliest shoes created to modern day designs.