Nouvelles

The Short Answer Some are. Most are not. And the difference matters more than you might think. If you pick up a pair of Dr Martens from a high street retailer or from the Dr Martens website, the chances are overwhelming that they were made in China, Vietnam, Laos, or Thailand. The standard 1460, the 1461, the Jadon platform — all manufactured overseas. Dr Martens does still produce a small...

The Shoe That Keeps Coming Back The brothel creeper is the most unlikely shoe in British fashion history. It was designed for desert warfare, adopted by Teddy Boys, revived by punks, embraced by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, worn on the runway by Comme des Garçons, and today sits in the permanent collections of fashion museums. And for most of that journey, one factory has been making it: George Cox...

Three Words That Change Everything "Made in England" used to be unremarkable. It was simply where things were made. Boots, shoes, tools, textiles — they came from British factories because that is where the factories were. Nobody put it on a label because nobody needed to. Then manufacturing left. The factories closed, the skills dispersed, and production moved to Asia. What remained was a handful of stubborn makers — mostly...

A Shop Older Than the Tube Most boot shops have a founding story. Ours has a founding century. The British Boot Company — originally known as Holts — opened its doors in 1851, selling hobnail boots to the Irish labourers who were building the railways and canals that would transform Camden Town from a quiet parish into one of London's most restless neighbourhoods. The shop has been on Kentish Town...