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Northampton and Goodyear-welted shoes

11:02 AM Shoes InSoul 0 Comments

Northampton might be a name unfamiliar to many, but to our fellow shoe lovers it might be another story. Thislittle-known county north-west of London is known to the Fashion world for being the origin of English gentlemenshoes and thus the dream place to be for many genuine shoe enthusiasts.

With the abundant supply of water and oak cask, which are essential for leather tanning, as well as its favourablelocation, the county has been where most top-end English shoe factories are based since the birth of the industry.It has served as the backbone of the English shoe industry and provided high-quality footwear for the world for theover 900 years, experiencing the English civil war, the American independence, and the world wars till today.

It made its name with the delicate hand craftsmanship and the early adoption of the Goodyear welting technique,which binds the shoe welt, insole and out sole together to create a strong shoe construction and at the same timeallow multiple sole replacements to extend the shoe life.

To date, Northampton itself has become a trusted brand for gentlemen shoes. ‘Made in Northampton’ is nowsynonymous to high-quality footwear. Although the number of shoe manufacturers has dwindled from a fewhundred to a handful today, the only best of the best survives and continues to produce a wide range of highquality shoes for the consumers worldwide, from more classic styles by the like of Edward Green, John Lobb andCrockett & Jones, to more contemporary flavours by Cheaney, Gaziano & Girling and Jeffery West. But what is Northampton actually like? Why go there? And how to go there? To be continued… Shoes InSoulA blog set up by two hardcore fans of English shoe culture - Patrick and David. It is dedicated specifically to theserious appreciation of the beauty of English shoes, the lost art of proper shoe care and the style inspiration forfellow gentlemen.到底什麼是北安普頓？它又如何跟鞋扯上關係？ 北安普頓可能對很多人來說是一個陌生的名字，但對一眾皮鞋愛好者就很可能是另一回事。這個鮮為人知、位於倫敦西北的縣被稱為時裝界視為是英國紳士鞋的起源，因此是許多真正的皮鞋愛好者夢想要去的地方。

由於有皮革鞣制所需的充足水源及橡木桶供應，加上其優越的地理位置，大部分高級英國皮鞋廠自業界由初創至今都是以北安普頓為基地。至今它已成為英國製鞋行業的中泡柢柱，為世界各地提供高品質的皮鞋至今超過900年，當中經歷了英國內戰，美國的獨立戰爭和兩次世界大戰而迄立不倒。

它以精細的手工及最早使用Goodyear貼邊技術打響名堂。Goodyear技術把鞋邊，鞋內裡及鞋底用線聯起，打造出的堅固的結構，並同時容許多次更換鞋底，延長鞋的壽命。

時至今日，北安普頓本身已經成為一個深受信賴的品牌。Made in Northampton是優質紳士鞋的代名詞。雖然當地製鞋商從以往數百間減少到今天的十多間，但只有最好中的最好能夠維持經營，繼續生產各式各樣的高品質皮鞋予全球消費者，從EdwardGreen 、John Lobb及Crockett & Jones等生產的經典款式，至以Cheaney，Gaziano＆

Girling和JefferyWest為代表的更現代的口味，應有盡有。

但北安普頓究竟真正如何？為什麼要來到那裡？而如何去到那裡？待續…

Shoes InSoulA blog set up by two hardcore fans of English shoe culture - Patrick and David. It is dedicated specifically to theserious appreciation of the beauty of English shoes, the lost art of proper shoe care and the style inspiration forfellow gentlemen.