The Stitchdown Shoecast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

George Curleigh has been president of Red Wing’s heritage division since 2019, in which time he’s been able to enjoy a list of very fun things including a worldwide pandemic, a factory shut-down, a cyber-attack, a periodically dwindling labor force, a broken supply chain for US-made components, and his OWN CHILDREN stealing his boots. 

So what’s the general feeling in Red Wing, Minnesota, according to George? Actually pretty fantastic. Retail expansion is going hugely well, especially in Asia. The European and North American markets are showing a ton of strength. A new factory recently came online. And after a massive contraction, a flurry of new styles are being released, and old classics everyone wants revived. 

We get into all of that, plus why Red Wing buried a time capsule full of boots and manufacturing instructions to be dug up in 120 years, how that endeavor led to realizing Red Wing founder Charles Beckman survived a deadly shipwreck off Nova Scotia back in the 1900s, what it was like coming to old-school-as-it-comes Red Wing from Arc'teryx, one off the world’s most technologically driven apparel companies, how to get people loving working in a boot factory, and why that aforementioned time when his son swiped his 875s was actually a hugely meaningful moment, in the best way. 

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

This past fall, Matt Paisley launched a shoe repair program at Colorado's Thunder Ridge high school, with nearly two dozen students taking the plunge and immediately being drawn into the program, skill development, and practical hands-on cobbling work. 

I had Matt lay out a blueprint for how he navigated making the shoe repair program happen, and the curriculum he’s been teaching in the first, legitimately monumental go-round. 

The fact that Matt’s program exists is a wonderful and inspiring story on its own—as is all the remarkable help that’s been offered by the repair and quality footwear community. But potential for Matt’s idea and approach to spread to other schools is what makes this, in my humble estimation, one of the most important episodes we’ve ever published. 

Here’s Matt Paisley, the guy who lit the spark that just might fix a broken shoe repair pipeline, on the Shoecast. 

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Since 1986, SB Foot Tanning Company is most known as the tannery owned by Red Wing, and with good reason: every bit of leather used on Red Wing Heritage footwear is developed and made by SB Foot just a few miles from Red Wing’s US manufacturing facility.

But the tannery itself and its relationship with Red Wing stretch much further back—to the late 1800s. And SB Foot creates leather for far more than just its neighbor in Red Wing, Minnesota—everyone from solo makers, to Russell Moccasin, to the US military.

Lacy Schumann has spent her last five years developing leather for SB Foot. Maybe Lacy was always supposed to make leather—she did grow up on a beef farm—but it took a veer away from a career in the art world to get her there.

I absolutely loved this chat with Lacy, who takes me through SB Foot history 101, what leather development at SB Foot entails (along with the nonstop interactions with Red Wing’s development team), how hard it is to accurately color leather—and let’s not even get started on truly waterproofing the stuff—why she’s in total roughout mode right now, and plenty more.

Mentioned in the episode: 

The Tannery & The Shoe: A Deep Look Inside The Red Wing & SB Foot Factories, by Josh Bornstein

https://www.stitchdown.com/brands/red-wing-boots-and-shoes/red-wing-shoes-sb-foot-factory-visit/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Grant Stone's Wyatt Gilmore is one of the people we most love talking to in the entire footwear industry—so it was high time we had him on the Shoecast. While we spend plenty of time discussing how GS develops new models, and chooses leathers, and how wearing EEE in their Leo last has changed my life, and what Wyatt will be looking for as a judge of the Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome, the best part of this podcast is without a doubt the brand's origin story.

Grant Stone emerged a half-decade ago as a challenger to the norm: a brand based in Michigan that manufactured in China that was ACTUALLY making a legit incredible product. People were initially skeptical, but that has faded for anyone paying attention, or certainly wearing their products.

But to hear Wyatt tell the story of how he personally ended up at a shoe factory in China with no idea of what to do with his damn life, then learning the trade and truly becoming part of a family that wasn't his own...it's apparent why the decision to manufacture there was made, and why Grant Stone has emerged as such an important player making incredible shoes and boots in a price range that almost seems unfair to everyone else.  It's really a beautiful story, and an inspiring one.

Also: vampire GenFacts!



This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps.


Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Very special episode! The entire shoe world has been on the edge of its heels waiting for 2030th Shoelympics to kick off from Northampton, England, and the Shoecast has secured exclusive coverage of the opening ceremonies!

Esteemed bootcasters Tichblucho and Boot Robinshoe are all set up in Longwing Stadium to give you a first-hand view of the pageantry, the spectacle, and the SHOES, whose amazing stories will be told through an extremely thin veil of blatant unchecked corporatism. And of course to deliver a preview on which shoes and boots you should expect to see taking home hardware in events like Gaff-Standing, Mirror Shine, the Handwelting, the Steeplechasse, and plenty more. 

[Producer's note: this is by far the weirdest Shoecast episode ever. Also maybe the best? So uhhh...be sure to tell us which.]



This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone, multiple-time gold medalist in the Value event, and a rising contender in so many more.



Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Nick Horween is a fifth-generation tanner at the eponymous Horween Leather Co., the Chicago powerhouse that creates Chromexcel, shell cordovan, and an endless array of some of the best boot leathers in the world. So he, uh, knows a lot about leather.

Nick stopped by the Shoecast to talk about Horween's fascinating history, how the tannery approaches being environmentally conscious in an industry that hasn't always been historically,  what leather development looks like, the CXL lottery,  whether Alden rare shell cordovan is ACTUALLY rare, and of course, the actual correct pronunciation of "chamois". And oh so much more.

Also Ticho says incendiary things about Chicago-style hot dogs and pizza that probably mean he can't ever visit the Windy City again. Oh Ticho...



This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps.


Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

It's completely possible that Jesper Ingevaldsson knows more about shoes than anyone alive. Jesper IS Shoegazing, the seminal and just monumentally good blog covering quality footwear, mostly in the classic dress category. Over the past decade he's taken a keen journalistic eye and an endless sense of curiosity, and educated millions on shoe construction and finishing while also presenting a razor-sharp review of the industry at large.

The thing that I love most about Jesper is that he knows his stuff in a way few do in any field—and yet he's not someone who sees his personally preferred, dressier lane as the only correct course for a shoe-lover.

His appreciation of all quality footwear is beyond evident as we get into the crossover between his nerdy world and Stitchdown's: why aren't more people in his wintry home nation of Sweden wearing more rugged boots? (Well luckily they're starting to, actually...) What is and isn't truly "handmade," how should brands market their products honestly, and what do we need to understand as customers? Why are we all so obsessed with buying shoes and boots on sale when it threatens the very existence of the makers we so dearly love?  Why do we buy four or five pairs of expensive footwear that don't get worn enough when one bespoke pair might be the thing that we really need?

These questions and plenty more we discuss—including the correct pronunciation of Swedish shoe store Skoaktiebolaget—are relevant to everyone who loves any kinds of welted shoes. And Jesper's episode is an absolute must-listen.



This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps.



Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera 

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

The very first episode of the Shoecast—and the most-listened-to episode of all time—was about Indonesian Bootmakers. To close out season 3, Ticho and Ben from Stitchdown knew it was high time to revisit that wonderful world of hand-welted boots and shoes.

Even in the year since that first episode, so much has changed in Indonesian bootmaking. New brands have emerged. Young makers have risen to crazy—and well deserved—levels of prominence. And the old guard continues to innovate, hone their craft, gain access to incredible new leathers, and just create a better and better product, seemingly every week.

So dive in to see where the scene is at today—we'll surely need another one of these episodes a year from now.



This episode is sponsored by Division Road Inc, the Seattle shop that creates some of the best Viberg, White’s, Wesco, and Tricker’s makeups you’ll find absolutely anywhere.



Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Brett Viberg is back once more on the Shoecast, to give us a detailed breakdown of Viberg's coming releases in the second half of 2021—there are a LOT, and we've got a full preview on Stitchdown.com.

Ticho and Ben from Stitchdown also get into how Brett is shepherding manufacturing and finishing quality forward, how Viberg's marketing and storytelling efforts play off that, how he approaches sampling random crazy ideas, what inspires him in terms of vintage shoes and machinery, and what the story is with the Bastion oxfords that people are definitely wondering about.

Pull up the exclusive Fall/Winter 2021 preview story and give it a listen below!



This episode is sponsored by Division Road Inc, the Seattle shop that creates some of the best Viberg, White’s, Wesco, and Tricker’s makeups you’ll find absolutely anywhere.



Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Five years ago, Jason Pecarich took his extensive experience in the menswear industry and opened Division Road Inc. in Seattle: a collaboration-driven menswear shop headlined by boot and shoe makeups from Tricker's, White's, Wesco, and what would quickly become hands-down the deepest Viberg lineup anywhere in the world.

So how'd he he do it? We get into Jason's uniquely in-depth footwear design outlook that leans heavily on long-term function and comfort in addition to style, what the extended process to truly develop multiple exclusive models—most notably the Shelby boot series—with Viberg looked like, if we'll see more Shelbies in the future, and what he thinks the future of physical retail looks like in general and for Division Road, Oh and Katz's pastrami sandwiches and how Ben hasn't somehow seen When Harry Met Sally. 



This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone, perhaps the best overall value in shoes and boots, period


Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/