PORT WASHINGTON, Wisconsin - The craft of shoemaking is experiencing a renaissance. Labels once seen as relics of American work wear now have an unexpected cool factor.
That has generally been perceived as a welcome development by the half-dozen or so shoe companies that still produce in the United States, some of which were, until recently, at risk of extinction. But it has also created a challenge, as designers adapt their products for a more fashion-conscious customer, as younger workers are trained on decades-old machines, and as executives wonder how long th is newfound popularity can last. It frightens a shoemaker to describe a high-quality shoe as trendy.
“We are not interested in being a hot line,” said Bob Clark, a vice president of the Alden Shoe Company, founded in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in 1884. Alden is the last remaining shoe company of the hundreds in New England in the 19th century. Mr. Clark said that the company has more business than it can handle at the moment, but that it is not planning to increase production.
“Making rapid changes to capitalize on the fashion of the moment doesn’t serve our long-term interest,” said Mr. Clark.
Allen Edmonds, a 90-yearold company on the north shore of Lake Michigan, is on track to produce 500,000 pairs of shoes this year, up from 350,000 last year. Since January 2010, the company has added more than 118 employees to a process that involves 220 steps from leather to lace-ups. The result is a hand-crafted product that will cost $325.
Other companies have wrestled with fashion’s embrace. Red Wing, the century-old maker of work boots in Red Wing, Minnesota, stumbled when it came out with women’s pumps, but its classic styles are coveted by fashion insiders. (Last fall, David Murphy, the chief executive of Red Wing, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press: “Do I want spiky-haired weird folks on the runway wearing our boots? I’m not disturbed by it .”)
Yet the revived interest in labels like Allen Edmonds, Red Wing and Quoddy, which makes hand-sewn moccasins in Perry, Maine, is being driven more by changing consumer habits than by fashion. Steven Taffel, the owner of Leffot, a New York City boutique, said that the recession had caused men to look for shoes that offered more value for the dollar. While they may cost $600 for a style of cap-toe boots, Alden shoes, if taken care of, can last 15 to 20 years.
“A lot of guys are seeing that if it’s been around a long time, then it must be a good shoe,” said Mr. Taffel.
Younger people are even being drawn into shoemaking. Florsheim was brought out of bankruptcy a decade ago by the founder’s grandchildren, who have hired a team of young designers. Most of the company’s shoes are now made overseas.
Only about 1 percent of shoes bought in the United States last year were produced there, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association.
One of the challenges facing these companies now is how to actually manage their growth.
“Everyone who has survived and is still in business making shoes in the U.S. is doing so because they have a smart business model and they make good shoes,” said Michael Williams, the author of the design blog A Continuous Lean.
Paul Grangaard, the chief executive of Allen Edmonds, said that Made in America has been a selling point. “You know when you see Italian designers making round-toe wingtip shoes in Florence that the direction has changed in terms of who’s copying who,” he said.
By ERIC WILSON
