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Photo courtesy of Jules Loves Leather
If you know me well, then you know I have a stereotypical female love of shoes. I don’t own a lot of them, but I will oogle them in stores and drool over a hot pair here and there. I’ve recently developed an even deeper love for local, handmade shoes! The price tag of a locally handcrafted pair of kicks may seem pricey, but it isn’t when compared to most designer shoes, which probably won’t last you as long and have a lot of manufacturing unknowns tied to them. A recent transplant to Vancouver, Jules Love Leather is a shoemaking duo from Whistler, moving down to expand their growing business.
Jessica McIlroy: What made you decide to start making shoes?
Jules & Josh:To be perfectly honest, boredom. We'd begun stocking quite a few retailers with our belts and other handcrafted leather accessories, and we quickly realized the volume game was not one we wanted to be a part of. One day I decided to take the afternoon off, and make something for me. I ripped apart an old pair of Sperry Topsiders, repurposed the sole, and tried my hand at making my first pair of shoes. That extremely wonky pair of kicks was the beginning of the end.
JM: Were you worried that there would be no market for hand-made shoes?
J&J: For us, handcrafting shoes was never a strategic decision with a calculated outcome. We started out as a leather accessories brand that also offered a handful of moccasin-inspired shoes, nothing more. Though, within a year, demand for our shoes had eclipsed all of our other accessories, so we decided to take the leap and focus our creative energies on footwear exclusively.
Photo courtesy of Jules Loves Leather
JM: How have you found the level of interest from customers?
J&J: Amazing. Two years ago I made a pair of wonky boat shoes. We had access to a friend's laser at the time, so we laser etched a set of pistols into the tongues, to kind of play with or debunk the whole preppy/ conservative aesthetic. We took a couple of pictures, posted them online, and pretty much instantly, it felt like the air in the room had changed. People had always appreciated our handcrafted belts, bags, and other accessories, but when we made that first pair of shoes from this garage based studio, we felt a higher intensity of love. We've had support from the very beginning, and we can't adequately express in words how much we appreciate it.
JM: How did you learn how to make shoes?
J&J: I'm entirely self-taught. I have experience working with leather, but making shoes is an entirely different beast. I'm so thankful to live in an age where I have access to online support such as written tutorials, shoe making enthusiast forums and instructional Youtube videos. I've started building a resource library of "how-to" shoe design/ construction/ cobbling manuals, and we've learned most of our lessons the hard way, through trial and error.
Photo courtesy of Jules Love Leather
JM: Do you feel there is a resurgence in interest for hand-made, quality goods?
J&J: Most definitely. I feel like there is a collective uprising of consumers fed up with cheaply mass-produced disposable swag. Not everyone "gets it", and the majority of folks probably never will, as we all have different priorities and budgetary constraints, and that's ok, we understand. However, more and more people seem to be taking a step back, re-evaluating their consumption habits, and figuring if they spend a little more, to acquire less, built-to-last, locally produced goods (containing high-quality locally sourced components), everyone wins. It's simply math really.
JM: Why did you move to Vancouver?
J&J: It wasn't an easy decision. We love Whistler. But truth be told, we were there entirely for lifestyle. As far as this lil' business of ours goes, nothing made sense up there. We were in a 300 square foot residential garage-based studio, with poor lighting and limited power. Sourcing was a pain, we were well off the beaten path, and surrounded by an amazing community of free-birds also there for lifestyle.
We decided we could either stick around Whistler and constantly play that line between work and lifestyle, or make the move to Vancouver, and really go for it. So, June 1st, we transplanted ourselves to a commercial workspace in Chinatown, and we're oh-so-happy we took the plunge. This just feels right.
Photo courtesy of Jules Loves Leather
JM: Are you looking to sell in retail outlets?
J&J: Right now we have small collaboration collections available at Sitka on 4th, and F As In Frank. As we're an essentially hand-powered operation it's really hard to take on too many retail contracts. However, in time, as we build a little more infrastructure, become a little more efficient, we'd love to get more of our product out there.
JM: Are each pair custom made or do you have certain designs that are made to order for size and colour?
J&J: We hold zero inventory. Each pair is custom made on order.
Right now we have seven different silhouettes to choose from. As far as leather type, colour, sole, etched artwork goes you can choose-your-own-adventure. We obviously have a catalogue you can simply pick from, but if you'd like something completely one-off, we can do that too. We sell predominantly online, but we're pretty much working morning through night, 7 days a week right now, so anyone’s more that welcome to swing by the studio anytime to talk kicks.
JM: What does the future hold!
J&J: We are launching a Kickstarter campaign in August, with the goal to fund the development of proprietary pour-over rubber sole moulds, and acquire women's specific shoe lasts, right now we only have men's lasts, so they're a little wide, and the smallest women's foot we can cater to is a 7.5 US, and an industrial shoe soling machine. If successful, we'll not only be 2-3 times more productive overnight, able to supply any and all foot sizes, but we'll be able to start delving into a wide array of custom sole colours and treads. Our customization options would be literally limitless.
Find out the latest from Jules and Josh, and Kickstarter campaign, by connecting with them on facebook and twitter. You can find Jules Loves Leather on etsy, or stop by their studio at 150-288 East Georgia.
