With issue six of The Holborn just around the corner, in which we photograph and meet a number of makers based in Cockpit Arts, we meet Deborah Carre of Carréducker, a mens shoemaking business based in the studio. Chosen to exhibit as part of the permanent ‘Designer Maker User‘ exhibition at the new Design Museum, Carréducker are true connoisseurs of their craft. So, if the idea of a pair of leather shoes handmade to perfection strikes you, read on to discover more about the process, working with UK manufacturers and how you can make your own pair…
Can you introduce Carréducker to The Holborn readers please?
James (Ducker, Carréducker’s Co-Director) used to teach at Cordwainers (now part of LCF) and I’ve taught an accessories and marketing design course there for the last ten summers: teaching’s always been a strong part of what we do. When we set up Carréducker we decided we would continue teaching because Cordwainers had stopped and nobody was teaching the craft that we’d spent 4-5 years learning, and are still learning. We’ve grown the teaching side of the business so we now teach three intensive courses in the year – one in New York and two here in London. We do evening classes and pattern-making classes for so that people who are interested in either just discovering the craft themselves or are interested in getting into the industry can at least get a taster of what it’s like to handsew shoes.
What is it about shoes? What initially attracted you to making them?
I’ve always liked a challenge! I did a fashion design and marketing degree and for my final year collection I worked with Trickers at their factory in Northampton. At that point they still had a handsewn shoemaker and I liked the idea.
What’s interesting about what we do is it’s problem solving in that you have someone who either has problem feet or they want a very specific design or they don’t know what they want. And we have to be able to get inside their head and realise that for them. So either they’re more comfortable or more stylish or just what they’ve always imagined to come true. It’s the working with your head and your hands that has always appealed to me, and I think the same for James. He was teaching English to overseas students in Barcelona and one of his student’s fathers was a shoemaker at the small guild they had then. He went and sat in the studio and when he came back to the UK he did his apprenticeship.
Tell us more about the shoe-making courses…
It’s a ten week term but we estimate that students normally need to do three terms to finish a pair of shoes, so it’s about 60-90 hours in total depending on how fast they are. At the end, participants can take away their very own hand-made pair of shoes! Once the course has finished, students also then have the skills to make their own shoes. We run an ecommerce site selling materials to shoemakers worldwide, so we can then sell them a starter pack to be getting on with.
Do you get to stay in touch with students and track their progress?
Yes, it’s a tiny little niche world. We’ve got a couple of students who have gone on to set up their own bespoke businesses all over the world. That’s how the place that we teach at in New York came about: the two girls who started it came and trained with us, then with another couple of shoemakers, and then they started their own business. We’ve also got others who just make for friends and family, and some who have gone into the industry and manufacturing who just wanted to get a taste of what the top-end is like.
Can a good pair of shoes last a lifetime?
Yes, the ones we make do. It’s down to the quality of materials: our leather comes from a small pit tannery in Devon called Bakers. It takes 12 months to tan the leather and sometimes between 5 and 6 years for a customer to walk through the sole leather. They don’t need repairing as often as ready-to-wear shoes. It’s a bit like having a classic car – a little bit of investment every year keeps it on the road.
Would you consider making women’s shoes or is it a completely different thing?
We have had women clients before but unfortunately normally by the time we see women clients, we can’t help them. They come to us because they have problem feet but what they really want and what they ought to be wearing don’t always marry. We do know some specialist womens makers so we send any interested women there.
How long have you been working in Cockpit Arts?
Gosh, we’re oldies! We’ve been here since 2004. Before, James was working up in Islington and I had a workshop out in Isleworth – we wanted somewhere that was central to set up business together. We liked the fact that Cockpit’s so focused on business development. We used to have a shared workshop on the other side of the courtyard and we’ve been in this space since last May.
What are some of the biggest benefits of being part of Cockpit?
Even with two of us in the business, we get a little bit stuck sometimes. David Crump (Head of Business Innovation, interviewed in issue 6) is very good. We’ll go to him saying, ‘We’re thinking of this’ and the next thing we know is we have a meeting and we’re planning. He’s very good at making us focus on the things we need to be doing and not getting distracted. They’re brilliant at training and just having an environment where everybody is different, there’s a lot of cross-fertilisation of contacts and ideas and working together. We’ve dabbled in ready-to-wear although we’re actually doing a little less dabbling and are properly doing it now. But before that we’d done a project with Thornback & Peel and a couple of the other fabric producers here. There’s always an opportunity do stuff with other people.
What are your plans for the future?
Currently, the business is the shoemaking school, the Toolshed which is the online store selling tools and materials and the bespoke which is at the core of everything we do. We’re now also doing ready-to-wear which is really getting us into manufacturing and we’re working with small artisanal manufacturers in the UK. We’ve just done a desert boot which is in production at the moment and will be launched soon. It’s made in Rendlesham, Suffolk by a guy who does the best job of stitch down construction where the upper is flipped out to the side of the shoe so it’s a little bit more waterproof. We’re also getting a work boot made in Derbyshire so we’re really UK based. They manufacture something brilliantly, we come in and interfere a little bit, throw some ideas at them and together we come up with something a little bit different. The plan is to eventually have a full ready-to-wear collection but just doing small runs so we can continue being responsive to customers.
Finally, what does a well-made life mean to you?
For me, it’s what it is at the moment, which is being able to balance working in something that I’m really passionate about and love doing with home life and normal life. I feel quite lucky.
Portrait image by Jack Lawson, all other images by Jonathan Stewart | Interview by Verity Inett | Workshop Editor | workshop@holbornmag.com
Meet Carreducker and 170 makers at the Cockpit Arts Christmas Open Studios | Hoborn – 24 – 27 November | Deptford – 2 – 4 December | More information http://cockpitarts.com/shop-cockpit/open-studios/