Ineed from Advice from English members here..

Jonathan

Jonathan

VFG Member
I need a little marketing advice. I am researching shoe designers and manufacturers for my book and while some entries are obvious I am beginning to wonder how far down the line I should go... Presumabely the English market is familiar with Delman, Bally etc. but what about some of the smaller American brands that may not have been sold in the UK or Europe?

How about:

Jacques Levine
Kenneth Cole
Candies
Bass Weejuns
Florsheim
Johnston and Murphy
Golo
Justin Cowboy boots
Margaret Jerrold
Nina
Timberland


For example....
 
That's interesting...that would not have occurred to me with a lot of the crosspolination on the internet and international buyouts that happen....i would be curious to hear too what the Brits have to say, too. (its after 10:00 pm GMT so maybe they won't really chime in til tomorrow?)

What makes me also curious is which ones Emma (aphroditenymphia) might know/not know being in Ireland. Sort of same area, but I would imagine different levels of exposure.

:baguse: i have never heard of golo. I hope that doesn't put the "living in a fashion cave" sticker on my forehead :)
 
Ok... I'm not too clued up either, so here's my badly informed perspective:

Jacques Levine - er... not really
Kenneth Cole - yup
Candies - kind of
Bass Weejuns - nope
Florsheim - rings a bell...
Johnston and Murphy - nope
Golo - nope
Justin Cowboy boots - nope
Margaret Jerrold - nope
Nina - ye-es...
Timberland - oh yes, v. popular...
 
I am not surprised that Kenneth Cole and Timberland are yesses simply because they are modern and marketed everywhere. They would fall into the same category as Teva or Birkenstocks I think... doesn't matter where they are made, everyone will have seen a pair for sale somewhere.

I thought you might know Nina for the same reason, which could be why you hesitated when answering.

Florsheim and Bass are very American -- I already nixed Rockport and Nunn Bush because I figured they were too American as well, although you might know of Rockport for the same reason as Kenneth Cole and Timberland.

You probalby know of Candies because they are so hot on eBay. Candies were actually made by Kenneth Cole's father in the 70s!

Justin makes cowboy boots

The rest of them are defunct American brands.
Jacques Levine produced standard 1980s women's pumps and mules. Johnston and Murphy was another Florsheim type manufacturer -- men's oxfords etc. Margaret Jerrold did women's shoes but they have been out of business since 1978 and Golo was known for their gogo boots in the 60s but they have been out of business since 1985.
 
Isn't there a Herbert Levine???

Are you doing anything on Red Cross Shoes?
 
Herbert Levine is definately in, but he isn't the same as Jacques Levine. Jacques is way down the list from Herbert Levine quality

Red Cross SHoes is a brand produced by a shoe company but I am not sure which one -- perhaps Browns, or Selby. I am not covering brand names unless they are pivitol to a shoe manufacturer's business, or a single brand around which a company was formed, like Doc Martens, Teva, and Birkenstock. I may have a pair of Red Cross shoes in the book which if I can find the info I will include in its description, but I doubt the brand will appear in my designer/manufacturer glossary.
 
This isn't in answer to your question Jonathan, just a comment
on Kenneth Cole's magazine advertisments...I think his ads are some of the best I've ever seen.

Sue
 
Justin Ropers...maybe that is sort of more quintessentially american. I bet they have them in the UK, but there is not as big as a more mass market cowboy culture as there is here and they might be utilitarian. There are billboards all over the place on the highways in the US for Justin. We have a satellite network in our neck of the woods that only shows horse training, cowboy stuff, and "parades of historic tractors". (all sponsored by Justin of course at every commercial break). The tractor parades you just want to take your life because they follow the tractors as slowly as they go, in real time (ditto the "Train" show).
 
Not much help to you on this Jonathan because I've never been able to purchase shoes in the general market, only at specialised outlets for BIG feet!

I know of Timberland of course - but that is about it!
 
Anyone else from across the pond want to chime in?

I am thinking of nixing cowboy boot manufacturers and hand boot makers from my glossary since it is really a whole different category unto itself, like sports footwear makers, although I am including the three biggies: Adidas, Reebok, and Nike. The book isn't going to be about specialist shoe designers and manufacturers so I didn't go into the other sportshoe makers like FILA, LA Gear, Brooks, etc. etc. etc. Ithink the trend for cowboy boots went across the Atlantic in the late 1980s/early 90s but it was usually redesigned for the fashion market.

I will be happy to hear from other UK posters here what you think about other makers I have on the list.
 
Hi there, I am pretty much the same as everyone else I have heard of Jacques Levine, but never actually seen a pair and for some reason Nina rings a bell, but Timberland is a definate yes, they are very popular over here too. When I was growing up though most of the shoes were either Clarks or made in Ireland, we had a big shoe factory in the town only about 5 mins from where I live.
 
sorry jonathan, a bit slow off the mark:

Jacques Levine - think so
Kenneth Cole -no
Candies - yes, but i think as mentioned above because of the popularity on ebay rather than them being sold here in b&m stores
Bass Weejuns - nope
Florsheim - again, only because i bought some from the states in a job lot
Johnston and Murphy - no
Golo - no
Justin Cowboy boots - yes, believe they were quite desirable in the cowboy boot craze last year but all were imported by individuals then sold on ebay uk as far as i can tell!
Margaret Jerrold -no
Nina - no
Timberland - oh yes, very much so. if you had timberland shoes at school you were apparently pretty cool (i didn't..)

yes, clarks is the biggest british name i can think of too. i'm afraid i've never been a huge shoe collector as my feet were always too wide for pretty girls things which i found hugely discouraging and now settle for birkenstock clogs or sandals most of the time..

sorry jonathan, that's all i can think of! but i think you seem to have it pretty much sussed.
 
I have quite a few vintage American shoes in my collection butI confess I have never really looked at the brand names. I just enjoy the fun of the shoes LOL. However having read a few books about shoes some of those names are familiar to me.
Louise
 
Thanks... For English designers and manufacuterers, I do have Clarks on my list, as well as George Cox (of brothel creeper fame), Rayne, Patrick Cox (Canadian born, but English designer but its a trade off for Peter Fox who is English born but a Canadian designer...), Vivienne Westwood (only because of those platforms that almost killed Naomi Campbell), Emma Hope, Manolo BLahnik (Spanish born but works out of England), Terry de Havilland, John Lobb, Reebok (which you have to share with the U.S.), and a couple of others I can't think of at the moment that were part of that huge influx of Cordwainer's college graduates in the 1980s.

Irish made shoes.... hmmmm I didn't know Ireland even made shoes. I hope I am not missing anything major there.
 
No, nothing major I don't think. The shoes made here were called 'Lotus' although my mother tells me the company was actually English based in Northampton, but they were a pretty big deal in this area and quite popular since the factory was one of the few left in the area. There are, however, quite a few specialist producers of Irish Dancing shoes and it seems that there was quite substantial local shoe production in Ireland prior to the country joining the EU in 1973.

http://www.louthonline.com/html/dundalk_footwear.html

http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/ebusiness/Case_studies/dubarry/dubarry_p2.htm
 
Russell and Bromley?? They're still the bees knees, and some of the very best vintage shoes I see are R&B, or Bally for Russell and Bromley (or is it vice versa?)

I see good vintage Ravels too, I think. Or am I mixing them up with Raynes? Liz, you have R&B or Raynes?

<b>Russell and Bromley:</b>
<img src="http://gallery.noirboudoir.com/itempics/moondustname.jpg">

<img src="http://gallery.noirboudoir.com/itempics/moondust.jpg" width=350>

not a great pic, sorry.

their website

on their own, actually rather impressive, small 'shoe museum'

their looooong history as shoemakers

I think if you have Delman, Bally, Clarks and even Startrite, Jonathan, you've got to have Russell and Bromley.

L
 
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