Black Rock Shoes

Took these photos a while ago but forgot to post them. Was brought up in a family that made shoes and I picked up the skills while helping out in dads studio when I was a wee lad. Left dads business to pursue my dream of living and working in Japan many moons ago but whenever I'm back in the UK, I go to the studios to see whether I remember how to design and make shoes.

When in the UK last April, decided to make a pair of Black Rock Shoe-ter sandals. Didn't have much time so to it turned out to be a bit too simple. Wanted to have a few straps and a star on the heel too.

Took a load of photos in the studio but am only going to post a couple of shots today. These are called "Lasts" which as you can see is a mold in the shape of a foot. The bottom is made of metal which will flatten nails which are hammered into it. The round circles exposing the plastic allows the sole to be held in place by nails.

Once a Last is chosen, I wrap it up in masking tape and draw on the design. Then cut out the masking tape and stick it on cardboard. The cut outs have to be modified in a way to allow folding and allowance to attach to the sole of the shoe.
The end result is a Pattern which is used to cut out various shapes from leather.

The Upper is the top part of the shoe which needs to be stitched before a process called Lasting. Lasting is where the Upper is attached to the sole of the shoe. Thanks to the folks in the studio for helping out with the making of the Black Rock Shoe-ters ^o^

Will post more photos from the studio and go further in depth into the shoe making process at a later date.