Longevity and sustainability - product philosophy of our shoes
Read here about the basics, the background and the individual manufacturing steps of our products of the traditional shoecraft
Development and manufacturing of our product lines
The company's founder, Claus Beeck, has been active in shoe production and the shoe business since 1985 and, based on this experience, developed a product line for our natural leather footwear in 1991 that combines innovative ideas with traditional production, such as our Good Year shoes. The result is footwear that is characterized by the sustainability of the product itself, as well as the materials and components, and which are manufactured exclusively within the European Union under the strictest social standards. We only manufacture sustainable, high-quality shoes with our natural leathers. For this it was necessary to redevelop the components such as leathers, soles, lasts, patterns, etc. in order to combine the advantages of traditional production with the latest findings from research, technology and the latest production methods. This resulted in the natural leather product line that we developed for our shoe production. Our leathers are produced in an environmentally friendly way according to strict requirements and are extremely skin-friendly. The tanning is made free of chromium and heavy metals, without the addition of PCP or formaldehyde; solvents are no longer contained even in the finish. Despite this gentle refinement of the natural material leather, we have succeeded in meeting the highest technical requirements while maintaining the natural character of the hides.
The primary goal here was to produce a high-quality product that is correspondingly more durable than the shoes previously produced in mass production. The logical consequence is a return to traditional shoe manufacturing, where the upper is sewn to the outsole. This sophisticated manufacturing process makes our shoes even more durable and comfortable.
The following applies to our entire product line:
- our pure natural leathers are tanned and dyed without harmful chemicals;
- they have exceptional breathability and thus allow for an outstanding foot climate;
- all closed models have a replaceable anatomically shaped soft bedding, which is covered with our pure natural leather;
- all shoes are completely lined to the toe with our extra soft natural leather linings;
- all models are fitted with insoles made of chrome-free tanned leather.
By means of the design, we combine aesthetics and fashion consciousness with comfort and wearability. The orientation towards the future lies in the sustainable totality and unity of this concept.
The design and development are created in our studios in Munich and Aveiro. The serial standard is being implemented in our production in Portugal.
Our leathers are tanned in Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal according to our specifications. We also purchase all important components from our partners in these countries in order to achieve the greatest possible security, to enable a product manufactured entirely in Europe in compliance with all known standards.
Company and product philosophy
In our products, we combine the spirit of time with the principles of comfort, wearing comfort, durability and environmentally friendly production, in which we combine traditional shoe craftsmanship with modern machine-aided series production. This enables us to offer our customers the most sophisticated lastings, such as Good Year welted construction, in combination with sustainable natural leather and the highest quality components at an excellent price-performance ratio. We made a conscious decision to source our materials and components within the European Union and keep our manufacturing here.The environmental aspect is just as important to us as compliance with social standards and fair wages for work in order to produce a fair product. The unity of this concept and the joy of the special sets our product apart from all others and makes it so unique. Of course, our shoes are still carefully handcrafted.
“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey. It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
