Here at Rachel Simpson we've been making shoes for over fifteen years, so we know a thing or two about what makes a good shoe. Whether it's a pair of heels for a special occasion or a trusty pair of trainers for your every day, we pride ourselves on our shoes being just as comfortable to wear as they are stylish to look at.
Rachel designs every shoe herself and we don't buy 'off the shelf', meaning you're always getting a unique design every time you choose a Rachel Simpson shoe. The brand is known for its unique signature style, one which you won't find in every high street shop, so you know you're getting something different- shoes which are perfectly on trend but are combined with just the right amount of timeless style. We believe in sustainable fashion and produce shoes you can wear again and again, for years to come.
We develop our own lasts (the 3D moulds which shoes are made on), to ensure a really great fit and decent width fitting. Having spent years designing for the high street, this is a really important factor for Rachel after seeing so many brands making shoes which were really small/ narrow fitting. All our shoes are leather lined too and made of super soft leathers and suedes, meaning there is a generous amount of give, so your shoes will only get more comfortable the more you wear them. Our trainers aren't leather, but we select only the highest quality synthetic leathers to give the same effect but without the natural material itself.
Designs are then sent off to our factory, with whom our supplier has been working for over ten years. We really value the people we work with, so it's important that they share our passion for shoe making and of course for the best quality craftsmanship and the perfect fit. First a prototype sample is produced, using patterns created by one of our expert modelists- sometimes these are right first time, but more often than not we'll make several amendments during fit testing, (many of them tiny, perhaps a couple of millimetres!) until we're 100% satisfied with both the look and feel of the shoe. Once prototypes have been confirmed the shoes are ready to go into production.
There's a lot more to the production of a pair of shoes than you might think. Firstly there are all the component parts, many of which you won't even see once the shoes have been made. From specially developed heels to toe puffs and heel stiffeners (which both help the shoe keep it's shape); from insoles to the comfortable padding we add into all our shoes; from the upper leather to the lining, to the buckles and trims- there are so many factors which make up the perfect pair of shoes, and we apply the same level of attention to detail when selecting every single one.
Once we have all the parts selected there are the vast number of processes which go into putting all of these components together. From cutting out the pieces, which is a highly skilled job to maximise the use of materials and cut down on waste, to stitching them together in a process called 'closing'. Once the upper has been stitched it is then made 3D in a process called 'lasting' before the sole and heel are attached and the shoe really takes shape. The inner sock is then added and the shoe finished and carefully quality checked, so that it's ready to be beautifully boxed up and sent to our warehouse.
From here your shoes are picked, packed and dispatched directly to your front door so you can try them on in the comfort of your own home. Trust us, this is a very simplified tour of shoe making, but keep an eye on our blog and social media as there will be more to come on this in the coming weeks and months!
Want to read more? Click here to find out what makes our shoes so comfortable.