The Old Pocklingtonian Old Pocklingtonian 2017-18 | Page 9

FEATURES
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
OLD SOLE LOUIS STANDS UP
FOR SHOEMAKING
If contemporaries of Louis Smith (99-10) had
been asked which career path he would follow, it’s
a fair bet “traditional shoemaker” would not have
featured in their predictions.
The rugby, cricket and watersports fan insists he
hadn’t the slightest interest in art or design while at
school - and when he left it was to read Business and
Economics at university.
Roll on eight years and Louis, 26, is proprietor of an
exquisitely tasteful shoes and menswear boutique in
the cobbled maze of York city centre streets. Old
Sole has a gentleman’s club feel, with shelves of high-
end shirts, shoes and accessories; even a decanter of
whisky on hand beside beautiful leather armchairs.
And in the corner, Louis’ shoemaking tools.
So how did the former scuba diving instructor become
one of the country’s few bespoke shoemakers, whose
carefully crafted shoes take six months to make and
attract commissions from across the country?
“Most people are shocked when they find out about
what I’m doing as I showed no interest in this sort
of thing at Pock,” he says. “I was always interested in
my own style, with shoes my favourite part of an
outfit – but nobody, myself included, would have had
me down as a shoemaker.” Finding someone to take him on from the dwindling
pool of traditional shoemakers was tough. Louis’s
Europe-wide search took him to Florence, where
within 30 minutes of meeting renowned custom
shoemaker Roberto Ugolini, he had committed to
daily Italian classes and a four-year apprenticeship.
Louis lasted two months at Sheffield Hallam
University before realising it wasn’t for him. A
spell in Australia and the Philippines training, and
then working, as a scuba diver followed, before he
returned to the UK to plot a career. “I spent the first year watching Roberto and his
colleague, Robertino, in their workshop, asking
questions, practising on scrap pieces of leather and
helping with shoe fittings,” he says. “It was quite
frustrating but watching is the best way to learn and
the leather is so beautiful that making mistakes is
expensive!”
After buying a pair of shoes from trendy shoe
designer Justin Deakin in London, he noticed the
business was advertising for an apprentice and got
himself the job. “I got more and more interested in
how shoes were made. And the more I discovered,
the more fascinating I found it,” he says.
Louis enrolled on an intensive shoemaking course in
London and was thrilled to emerge with his own pair
of self-made leather shoes: black with purple laces. “I
didn’t take them off for ages… I realised that’s what
real shoes are,” he says. “For the first time in my life
I could seriously see myself doing this as a career.”
Towards the end of the year, Louis was trusted
enough to make a couple of pairs of shoes for
himself. Then, under the watchful eye of Roberto, he
gradually became skilled in the craft of shoe-making.
“There are about 200 individual processes which go
into making each shoe and I had to run each step
by Roberto before he was happy. Towards the end
of the second year he let me make my first pair for
a customer from start to finish, which was amazing,”
says Louis.
“To completely make and stitch a pair of bespoke
shoes by hand gives a certain feeling of deep
satisfaction and pleasure. From making my first pair, I
just wanted to experience it again.”
After four years, every shoemaker’s dream of
creating a product with their own name on started
to grow in Louis. At the same time, many of his
tight-knit band of OP friends were moving back
to the area. When his mum, who owns the Giselle
Ladieswear boutique in York, discovered the shop
next door was coming up for rent, Louis made his
move and Old Sole opened in December 2016.
It has taken him months to find suppliers in the UK,
but now Louis’ bespoke shoemaking part of the
business is really taking off. Prices start at £1,300 a
pair and although Louis’ friends haven’t yet been in
a position to commission them, he thinks it’s only a
matter of time.
“A handmade shoe fits better than any other, plus
you get to design it yourself - from the style to the
leather and its colour,” Louis says. “Business is going
really well. I’ve had orders from all over Yorkshire as
well as London. My only problem is making them
fast enough!”
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