The Stitchdown Shoecast

Back when Lorena Agolli was getting started in the trade, an aging cobbler grabbed her forearm, frowned, and dismissively said, "you’re not strong enough." Well that was the wrong read on every level—almost a decade later, Lorena is currently entering a new era as the proprietor of Toronto shoe repair shop Sole Survivor. After scaling up the Sole Survivor business to multiple storefronts and largely training both locations' staff from scratch, Lorena has intentionally dialed things back to allow her and her team to focus on the types of repair jobs they're legitimately excited about. This episode, Lorena and Ben chat about how to listen to what an old machine is telling you, the conundrum of the next generation of cobbling talent, why the old ones are so darn grumpy, and the joy (ha!) of doing a single task for 8 hours straight every day. This episode was sponsored by Taft, whose new line of stitchdown construction boots is, believe it or not, right up our alley.Theme Song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Wyatt Gilmore runs Baroda, Michigan-based, ever-rising footwear brand Grant Stone. So of course we had him back on the Shoecast and completely barred him from even mentioning his own company. Instead, Wyatt gets into what makes the feeling of Goodyear welt shoes so damn addictive, just how casual our world is going to get by 2050, the lifestyles that hugely successful shoe and boot brands attach themselves to, the shoemakers both new and legendary he respects the most, and JUST HOW TOUGH THIS WHOLE DAMN SHOE BUSINESS IS. He even tries to sell Ben and Ticho on tassel loafers being cool, and it maybe almost works. As conversational as Shoecasts get, this one's absolutely a fun little ride. This episode was sponsored by Taft, whose new line of stitchdown construction boots is, believe it or not, right up our alley.Theme Song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

When Eric Kinney took over as president of Spokane legend White's Boots in 2019, the 170-year-old maker didn't even have a website. Just four short years later, Eric—a former White's bootmaker for 26 years who made upwards of 50,000 pairs himself—and the White's team have positioned the brand as one of the preeminent and beloved high-quality lifestyle bootmakers anywhere in the world. This episode, Ben and Ticho chat with Eric about the unceremonious reveal of the first table-setting White's MP boot Eric developed; how he views the differences  between White's Goodyear welt, stitchdown, and handwelt lines; if we can expect to see fully custom offerings from White's into the future; how Japanese conglomerate ABC Mart's ownership of White's has changed things for the previously family-owned company; and how the brand is contending with an ongoing bootmaker shortage. Perhaps the quote from the episode that sums up Eric, and the brand, best: “To be truthful, the [best] part about being in charge is being the one who can make White’s…stay White’s. What happens when I leave? I don’t know. I do know that if I’m still there, it’s not going to change.” This episode was sponsored by Grant StoneTheme Song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

As global product design & development manager at Red Wing Shoe Co.,  Mike Larson has touched every single product that's ever been placed into a Red Wing Heritage shoe box over the last 13 years—a lineup that was 260 styles strong just over three years ago, before shrinking to just 12 over the course of the pandemic. After truly banding together as a brand-within-a-brand amidst Covid, supply chain messes, AND a brutal hack that shut down Red Wing's site and internal systems, Mike's team is currently back on track and working on product the rest of us won't see until two years in the future. In the first episode of Shoecast season 8, Ben and Ticho chat with Mike about how the Red Wing Heritage development process works (it's uh...very long and far more complicated than probably anyone realizes), the insane level of historical detail the brand imbues into all their Heritage products (they're legit matching thread tension from the 70+ years ago!) and the research behind it, the oldest working machine in the factory, Red Wing's approach to preserving institutional shoemaking knowledge, how American manufacturing survives our currently trying times, and oh so much more. This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone—they make very good boots, here go give them a lookTheme Song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

A little over three years ago, Weston Kay cut some Dr. Martens boots in half on YouTube. Today, millions of people watch videos of him hacking all sorts of other shoes in half to break down the materials they use, on Weston's Rose Anvil YouTube channel.And it's no secret he said some very serious words about our beloved Alden Indy boots in one of them, and so we had to drag him onto the show and confront him. So how'd the guy who was making DIY wedding rings and rebuilding motorcycles just months before the Doc Martens vid become just about the most heavily watched men's footwear reviewer on YouTube?  What does he feel the job of a reviewer on the internet should be in 2023? And most importantly (obviously), has he reconsidered anything about that Indy boot video?Buckle up for the final episode of Shoecast season 7...This episode was sponsored by Division RoadTheme Song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

We’re not sure there’s ever been a “normal” year in the quality footwear world, but 2022 certainly wasn’t about to start being one. Smart brands reasoned out strategies that allowed them to shift from labor and supply chain scrambles to sustainable long-term solutions. The sudden rise of the Chinese brand dovetailed with the worldwide emergence of the intentionally micro (and damn talented) bookmaker. A storied brand changed ownership hands—hopefully in a manner that lets its craft and traditions persist for decades to come. And everyone caught a serious case of loafer fever, a very positive outcome indeed.Ben and Ticho look back at a darned interesting 2022—and lob out impossibly bold predictions (LOAFER DOME?!?!) for the year ahead in 2023. This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, who we predict will carry the most impressive range of Japanese footwear in the entire US Theme Song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

It's been over two years since our own Ticho took on Mr. Style, aka @almostvintagestyle, aka " Jake,"  in the inaugural Stitchdown Bootbate, an extremely formal and rigid debate...about boots. Since then, both competitors have been cooped up in their lairs, conditioning their boots, shining their heels, wearing clothing from a place known as Japan, and mostly, preparing for the second round. Well here it is, people. Here it is!The Stitchdown Bootbate 2: Electric Boot-Galoo is yet another epic clash between these two boot titans, covering the big, important topics in only the way they can. What is first on their list of lasts? Dainite: dapper or deadly?? Country of origin: how much does it matter in 2023?!? And oh so much more. Yet another battle of boot logic and knowledge for the ages awaits you!This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, and about this there is no debate: the Oakland, NYC, and Sante Fe retailer is home to some of the great boots in the world. Theme song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

What's clickin'?? That's right Ben and Ticho are back with another SHOOOEBAG episode, in which we answer all of your listener questions, including:  What are the best options for non-PNW footwear with arch support? Why do certain deranged people not recognize the extreme artistic beauty of the wedge sole? What are some of the best ways to enjoy the pairs you have, instead of just worrying about the next one? IS CHONK DEAD?!? And the big dog: where exactly does the line sit on brands copying other brands' patterns and silhouettes? Come with us if you want to Shoebag! This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, which has more Japanese boots than possibly even JapanTheme song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

We've had both Nick Horween (the one from Horween Leather) and Phil Kalas (formerly of Horween, now making some of the best wallets, belts, and more over at Ashland Leather) on the Shoecast before. WELL APPARENTLY THAT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR THEM.Clearly over-emboldened by recently starting their own show, the Full Grain Podcast, Phil and Nick swung into a recent Shoecast recording session, said "we're the hosts now," and proceeded to interview Ben and Ticho. Which actually led to some very fun conversations about how we got started with this whole caring way too much about shoes and boots thing, community building, Patina Thunderdomes, Chicago hot dogs (obviously), and plenty more. Luckily Phil and Nick are very caring and wonderful captors, so, thank you fellas for doing it right. This episode was sponsored by Division Road—sign up for their bulletin to get all the latest White’s, Tricker’s, Crockett & Jones, Wesco, and Alden releasesTheme song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Unsung House is a wonderfully rare shoe repair shop. After a half decade learning the trade in a more “standard” cobbler setting, brothers Grant and Isaac Gustafson opened Unsung in a literal old house in Nashville, to focus on impeccable higher-end shoe—and especially boot—repair, restoration, and ground-up creation. Ben and Ticho sat down with Grant to dig into the beautiful details of Unsung’s work, from how they work a re-last job, to the dark arts of pattern grading, to their 9000-year-old sander that’s the size of a 727, and almost certainly louder. We also go deep on Unsung’s nascent house-made boot line, specifically with Ticho’s wonderful engineer boots that feature an overdye created from walnuts Grant harvested on his own property—only because he hasn’t found enough wasp cocoons to do it that way. What’s the purpose of a craftsperson in an Amazon world? We spent plenty of time trying to figure that the hell out—and Grant has as good an outlook as we’ve ever heard. This episode was sponsored by Division Road—sign up for their bulletin to get all the latest White's, Tricker's, Crockett & Jones, Wesco, and Alden releasesTheme song: 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 membershiphttps://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/Check out our site!https://www.stitchdown.com/2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/