Whom you can entrust to create a footwear collection?

The fashion sector has become increasingly competitive. In order to “face the competition” you need to be well recognizable on the market. This rule is well known by many brands that work daily to position themselves.

In the recent years, many fashion companies have decided to combine their clothing collection with a shoe line aiming to expand their reference market and confirm their role in the eyes of their customers.

But how to create an entire shoe collection from scratch?

How to choose the right materials and, above all, the right suppliers?

Who takes care of the design of the models?

Many choose to rely on an external partner who, however, should have certain characteristics to be able to create a shoe line. Let’s see them together.

Controlled network of suppliers

There are different types of leather. In order to create a quality product you need to know how to select the suitable raw material. The choice is much easier if you rely on a manufacturer with its own network of suppliers, which is already tested and subjected to periodic quality checks. Moreover, if the suppliers are all Made in Italy, even better!

Internal pattern development

It may seem obvious, but if you want to create your own shoe line and start from scratch you need someone who is able to offer you a catalog of models to choose from or to design shoes based on your suggestions.

But the sketch is not enough. The pattern making department will create the first prototype so that you can make evaluations and changes before getting to the production phase.

The right skills

When we talk about handmade shoes, the small details do make the difference: the raw materials, the stitching, the colour, the finishes, etc.

It is precisely in this phase that technical skills come into play: the manufacturer you select must have long experience and master the construction techniques of the shoe.

Production capacity

You have the right raw material, the models you wanted, a supplier able to produce  and you also have customers willing to spend money to buy your new shoe collection.

Then, you need to make sure that your shoe manufacturer is able to produce all the models you will need. Reaching the “sold out” is also good to create some expectation but your product can’t always be “sold out”.

For this reason, before starting the collaboration it is essential to make sure that the partner you have selected has the production capacity to guarantee the production of the shoes you will need.

Timing and logistics

Obviously this whole process must be completed within certain timing. Before signing a contract, make sure that the supplier you have selected is able to meet deadlines and already has a logistics network in place. In fact, the importance of logistics and the time necessary for shipments should never be underestimated. Therefore, if your partner is already prepared under this aspect, you will not have to deal with it.

Fratelli Borgioli, the historic Tuscan artisan brand of men’s footwear, also offers its customers the Private Label service. With the advice of the company’s product development team, it is in fact possible to create a collection of own-brand footwear with all the characteristics that have made Fratelli Borgioli a brand appreciated by international fashion houses and by all lovers of beauty.

Furthermore, Fratelli Borgioli has become the reference point for the most important high fashion brands looking for a shoe manufacturer in Tuscany capable to guarantee perfection, organization, know-how and punctuality.

CONTACT US to find out what services we can offer to your brand.

From the idea to the product: necessary steps to create your own shoe line

Creating a line of shoes is not a simple job, not suitable for everyone. Especially if we talk about high quality handmade shoes, where the production process is complex.

In fact, behind each shoe there are many processing stages, from the creation of the model to hand finishing, which are all necessary to obtain a high quality final product. Each processing stage requires a certain amount of experience from the producer.

For this reason, when a brand decides to outsource the creation of its line of shoes, it is important to carefully select the manufacturer, making sure that the factory is able to carry out each processing stage and obviously uses high-quality raw materials.

But exactly what are these processing steps? Let’s see them together.

Shoe design

The creation of a handcrafted shoe starts with creative research, followed by analysis of current fashion trends, to create an original shoe design in line with market trends.

After having studied the market, the designers will create the models to be handled to the pattern makers, who will transform the idea into reality.

In detail, a paper pattern (or its digital CAD model) is created as the basis for the production of the shoe. The prototype will help the craftsmen to verify that there is no technical error, and if there is, the pattern will be modified until a perfect prototype is obtained.

Leather cutting

Once the model has been created, the leather cutting is the next and one of the most important steps in the creation of a handmade shoe. This phase requires skill, precision and attention to detail, because the quality and aesthetics of the shoe largely depend on the precision of the cutting of the materials.

In order to guarantee high durability to the final product, the leather used should be chosen with care, with an eye on quality, colour, texture and thickness.

The cutting of the leather should be done very carefully, following the pattern paper and taking into account any details or decorations that must be preserved. It is also important to optimize the cuts to reduce waste.

Checks are then carried out to ensure that there are no defects or imperfections.

Hemming

The hemming of handcrafted shoes is a crucial phase, which should be executed with care, using special machinery and traditional techniques. The edges of the vamp, i.e. the upper part of the shoe, are precisely cut and then folded inwards. Subsequently, we proceed with the sewing of all the pieces, which together with the lining, will make up the upper part of the shoe.

This process requires great manual dexterity and particular attention to detail, as the hemming should be flawless to ensure a high quality finish and a durable shoe over time.

Assembly of the upper

Subsequently, we proceed with the actual assembly of the shoe.

In this phase, the leather upper is heated in a steam oven, then passed through a press that shapes the toe to facilitate its assembly on the last. While on the plastic last, on which the upper will then be mounted, an assembly insole is spread.

To artfully assemble a shoe it is necessary to stretch the leather in the correct way: it takes years of experience to “feel” if the material is stretched at its best. If the leather is too tight, the shoe risks breaking during assembly, if instead it is loose, the shoe will not have the shape.

At the end, the upper is closed on the last.

Scratching the sole

In this phase the excess leather is removed to prepare the shoe for the process of attaching the sole. It is very important to follow the outlines of the sole to remove only the skin that obstructs the perfect attachment of the sole.

If the craftsman scratches the shoe outside the outline, he ends up damaging the upper. In this case the shoe does not pass quality control and should be produced anew.

Application of the sole

There are many techniques used for this complex process. The department is in fact divided into two production lines, based on the difficulty of the construction of the sole.

On the “simple” line, shoes are processed with glued soles, or sewn with the Blake technique with groove.
On the other “classic” line, the shoes with Blake stitching with hidden seams, Blake rapid and Goodyear soles are processed.

Finishing

The final phase in the creation of a handmade shoe is the finishing phase when the shoes are checked one by one to guarantee their quality and aesthetics.

During the finishing process, the shoes are cleaned, polished and varnished to enhance their beauty and protect them from wear. Depending on the type of leather and the desired effect, the shoe is brushed with different types of brushes.

Leather coloring

During manual coloring, the shoes are entrusted to the hands of expert craftsmen in various leather coloring techniques, a long and delicate process that requires experience and dexterity.

An artisan spends an average of three days coloring the leather, applying the dye and wax by hand through circular movements of the fingers, in order to allow the leather to dry after each application and to obtain an excellent result.

Fratelli Borgioli, historic Tuscan artisan brand of men’s footwear, also offers its customers the Private Label service. With the advice of the company’s product development team, it is in fact possible to create a collection of own-brand footwear with all the characteristics that have made Fratelli Borgioli a brand appreciated by international fashion houses and by all lovers of beauty.

In the recent years, Fratelli Borgioli has become the reference point for the most important high fashion brands which are looking for a shoe manufacturer in Tuscany capable of guaranteeing perfection, organisation, know-how and punctuality.

Fratelli Borgioli shoes are the result of a family tradition that began more than seventy years ago in an artisan workshop in the heart of the Florentine countryside, in La Stella di Vinci.

Each shoe designed by Fratelli Borgioli is a true artisan masterpiece. The tradition of Tuscan craftsmanship and technological innovation blend together to give life to a shoe that accompanies the wearer for a lifetime.

To find out which services we can offer to your brand CONTACT US.

Handmade shoes: why choose “made in Tuscany”

Made in Italy is famous all over the world, whereas we talk about fashion, it is really a truthful statement.

If we go even more in detail and consider the handcrafted shoe market, we have to  admit that the shoes produced in Tuscany are well known and requested all over the world.

Tuscan artisan producers are known for their tradition, their skills and their attention to details. Precisely these characteristics have attracted many national and international luxury brands, which have chosen to entrust the shoe line production to this Italian region.

The numbers  confirm this theory, since in Tuscany, compared to the other Italian regions, the fashion has a significantly heavier weight (in terms of employees in the sector) than in the other Italian regions; from an analysis of the fashion sector in Tuscany by IRPET (Regional Economic Planning Institute of Tuscany) it emerges that in 2018 the share of this sector in terms of employees on the total of manufacturing was equal to 39.1% against 24.3% of Marche region, 19.4% of Campania and 14% of Veneto.

Most of the employees are engaged in clothing, leather goods, textiles manufacture and other specializations such as tannery, jewelery and footwear. Shoe productions are minimally widespread in other regions but they play a fundamental role in Tuscany.

In this regard, it is also interesting to underline the strong interpenetration between these sectors which confirms that in Tuscany there are strong supply chains of some product categories, capable of managing the product from the raw material to the final launch.

This is the issue of the footwear business which finds its conception, production and, often, export in Tuscany. In fact, big fashion brands have their shoes produced by Tuscan shoe factories and then place them on the international market.

Which brands produce in Tuscany?

Therefore, the statistical data speak of a growing sector from various points of view which over time has become an international reference for those who want to offer consumers a high quality shoe.

In this context there are fashion companies that historically have settled their headquarters in this region and continue to produce in their own factories, as well as Italian and foreign brands that address the local supplier that can guarantee the quality of Made in Tuscany.

In particular, some foreign fashion groups in recent years have chosen to rely on Tuscan shoe manufacturers because they know that they can count on a complete supply chain that starts from the raw material to ends with the finished product.

The stories of some historic brands are well known, such as Prada, which was founded in Milan in 1913 and today has several factories in Tuscany, in addition to a net of local laboratories who execute certain types of production or processing.

On the same way we find the historic Florentine brand Ferragamo who for years already has outsourced the specialized production of some product categories by relying on high-level local laboratories, while maintaining the management of the most important production phases in-house (such as the historic prototyping department).

If we look abroad, the case history of Manolo Blahnik is emblematic, who found the  sought-after perfection in Tuscany: since 2017 the men’s shoes of the famous London brand have been produced in Vinci, in Tuscany, by Fratelli Borgioli.

Equally interesting is the operation carried out by the Swiss group Richemont which in 2007 settled in Scandicci with the aim to develop the leather goods of the Montblanc brand; but within a short time the group decided to expand its Tuscan pole with the intention of transforming it into a creative “forge” for the products of other brands of the group, such as Cartier and Dunhill.

After this quick overview, the question arises: “Why do these brands choose Made in Tuscany for the footwear production?”

Why choose a Tuscan shoe factory

So let’s try to answer this question.

The success of the Tuscan production of handcrafted footwear is due to a combination of unique elements, such as:

  • the local presence of high quality raw materials;
  • the long experience of the producers in the various steps of the supply chain;
  • the usage of ancient techniques and processes that guarantee the quality and durability of the shoes;
  • the presence of a precious know-how that is often handed down from generation to generation.

Regarding the last point we should highlight that the large groups try to encourage the exchange of this wealth of information and artisan knowledge within their factories in order to progressively train their workers.

There is another fundamental point to consider: luxury brands aim to differentiate themselves from their competitors. The production of one’s shoes in Tuscany not only guarantees the highest quality but also the acquisition of a certain prestige which can increase the brand’s reputation and attract high-level customers.

The value of Made in Tuscany is recognized and appreciated all over the world. The choice to entrust one’s production to the land which for centuries has been the cradle of high-level artists and craftsmen is recognized as an added value.

Fratelli Borgioli, the historic Tuscan artisan brand of men’s footwear, also offers its customers the Private Label service. With the advice of the company’s product development team, it is possible to create a collection of own-brand footwear with all the characteristics that have made Fratelli Borgioli a brand appreciated by international fashion houses and by all lovers of beauty.

Furthermore, Fratelli Borgioli has become the reference for the most important high fashion brands that are looking for a shoe manufacturer in Tuscany capable to guarantee perfection, organization, know-how and punctuality.

Contact us to find out the service we can offer to your brands, CONTATTACI.