Just recently HRH Prince Charles embarked on a two day journey, visiting factories around England, on a quest to reinvigorate and celebrate the idea of British engineering and manufacturing. For me this represents an important subject as many of the things that we use and like, are made by skilled workers in factories around not only the UK, but all over the world. In the modern day world however, I feel that the idea of being a factory worker has such a low connotation to it that young individuals no longer aspire/take pride in being associated with factory working. Strange enough, it used to be something that many people took great pride in, as being apart of a factory not only meant being part of the creation of your country’s signature goods but also of the idea of promoting quality and your country being associated with that. It is without a doubt that many people in England have lost that feeling as the ability to find skilled workers is getting harder and harder, as I know second hand from factory owners who have expressed this concern to me.
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| Picture Courtesy of Crockett & Jones |
It is no doubt that the solution to this problem is to educate/inspire the youth to seek out jobs in the manufacturing/engineering industry, and this is what HRH Prince Charles was aspiring to do. On this 2 day journey, he happened to stop by none other than the honorable Crockett & Jones, a factory that for me sets the bar when it comes to great shoes for a great price, here in England. On his visit, he happened to get a private fitting where he went with the Belgrave model, pictured above, but on a special last that suited his needs. A safe yet elegant choice no doubt! As I love shoes and the idea of people wearing good ones, I can only hope that more young people can aspire to join the ranks of the skilled factory workers that make up the shoes that many of us wear and most likely take for granted. What if they were to all close down due to the inability to find new, good workers? We would all freak out!!!! At least I know that I would! Nevertheless, I am happy to see HRH Prince Charles on conquests such as these and can understand without a doubt why he chose to visit C&J above all….
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| Photo Courtesy of: Rugged Old Salt |
justin .. what do you think C&J did to the last to ‘suit his needs’? Did they make him a completely bespoke last or modify the existing 337 last the belgrave is made on or use one of their other lasts to make the belgrave model on? any idea?
its funny as the 337 last is the jewel in C&J’s crown, designed by D Gomez and is a last that even the more lofty shoe manafacturers envy!
C&J are becoming very adapt at marketing their brand .. the james bond film / prince charles visit on so on .. hope this doesnt translate from them going from a solid brand into a fashion marketing driven one ..
Anand
Prince Charles has always been one of the country’s most prominent style and shoe lovers. Of course, in some ways he’s understandably conservative as a man in his sixties who’s also the heir to the throne.
But he’s also both a big champion of traditional highly-skilled craftsmanship, and something of a dandy on the quiet: take a look at those crazy peaked lapels on the suit, for example. You’ll also see quirks like ostentatious turnback cuffs (that I was proud to copy!), and a fine collection of English shoes. I think quite a few of the top English makers have done a “special” for him at some point – Cleverley, Foster (I think), John Lobb St James’s (since decades ago) are some, and I think Tricker’s even did a whole collection with his endorsement.
Well done Your Royal Highness, for pushing the best of English style again!
Anand – No idea with regards to what he did with the last…..as per them getting bigger and the fear of quality getting lower, well it’s hard to say…I think that they are quite big and can handle the capacity for as big as they could get for a shoe of that pricepoint…. only so many people and so many places can afford +�300 shoes…
Alex B – He is a sharp guy, particularly because he loves a DB, just like me!!
-Justin