JM Weston, a French luxury leather shoe brand that combines elegance and practicality

By Mei Chiu

Many countries famous for their craftsmanship have some brands that are the pride of their people. For example, JM Weston, a luxury leather shoe brand from France, has been known for its elegance and durability since its establishment in 1891, and has a lofty status comparable to that of the British shoe king Edward Green.

Origin of Limoges, the "City of Art"

JM Weston was founded by French shoemaker Édouard Blanchard, but the brand was not called JM Weston at first. Initially, Blanchard made and sold men's and women's leather shoes next to Limoges train station under the name E. Blanchard & Cie. Later, the brand name was changed to The Ultra Shoes. [1]

There is not much information about Édouard Blanchard, but when he started his business, he started directly with a shoe factory rather than a small one-man shoe shop, which laid a solid foundation for the future development of the brand. Especially, the location of his factory happened to be Limoges, the city of art. In addition to being famous for enamel and porcelain, the leather industry is also quite developed here. Therefore, the beginning of JM Weston is the culmination of beauty and craftsmanship.

French graceful lines combined with American Goodyear soles

Thirteen years after the brand was founded, Eugène Blanchard, the son of Édouard Blanchard, like young people of every generation, was deeply influenced by modern new technologies and decided to go to Weston, Massachusetts, USA in 1904 to learn the Goodyear sole sewing technique.

Why did you choose to go to Massachusetts, USA to learn new shoemaking technology? If you carefully review history, you will find interesting origins between Europe and the United States.

It turns out that the reason why the shoemaking industry in Massachusetts was so developed and later became the birthplace of shoe brands such as Converse was because John Adam Dagyr, a shoemaker from Wales, a British country, immigrated to Massachusetts and found that his craft was quite scarce in the United States at that time, so many Americans rushed to become his apprentice. Later, the American War of Independence created a huge demand for military boots, making Massachusetts a major shoemaking center. [2]

And the inventor of McKay sewing technique is Leman. Blake (Lyman Blake, hence the Mackay sole, also known as Blake), Charles Goodyear, the inventor of rubber, and his son Charles Jr., who created the Goodyear sole. Goodyear (Charles Goodyear Jr.), and the American leather shoe legend Alden , all come from Massachusetts. It was therefore natural for Eugène Blanchard to go to Weston in the state to learn his craft.[3]

This three-year apprenticeship journey is an extremely important milestone for JM Weston. Because Goodyear soles solved a huge problem in the shoe industry at the time: improving the durability of the soles. Because the soles of shoes used to break too easily and repairs were time-consuming, every shoe brand had a mountain of orders waiting for warranty repairs.

British blogger View From The Back revealed this history. It is said that JM Weston, which was then The Ultra Shoe, had 15,000 pairs of shoes sold returned to the factory every year for repairs and resoles. Eugène Blanchard wanted to solve this problem and make shoes more durable, so he went to the United States to learn art.

The learning journey was so fruitful that in 1919, after Édouard Blanchard's death, Eugène Blanchard decided to reduce daily production from 600 pairs to 80 pairs to ensure that each pair of shoes was well completed, improve durability, and gradually reduce repair orders. This is also the most important allusion that JM Weston has been famous for until now. [4]

1922 was another important moment for the brand, because this year Eugène Blanchard met the local gentleman Jean Viard at the Longchamp racecourse in Paris (yes, that’s where the bag brand’s name comes from). Because they had a very similar business philosophy for shoes, the two jointly registered the JM Weston brand and opened the first boutique named JM Weston on boulevard de Courcelles next to the Monceau Park in the luxury residential area of ​​Paris. Ten years later, they opened a branch on the famous boutique street Champs-Élysées.

A timeless classic that combines style and comfort: the 180 loafer

Although the most classic shoe model in JM Weston's history, the Mocassin 180, or 180 Signature Loafer, had not yet appeared when JM Weston opened a branch on the Champs-Elysées, the brand had already established a firm foothold in the first-class boutique battlefield through its golf shoes (le Golf) and hunting shoes (Hunt Derby).

To date, JM Weston has approximately 40 representative shoe models [5] , but none of them is as well-known as the 180 loafer, which was first introduced in 1946.

180 loafers, if translated literally, means "Moccasin 180". Before explaining the origins of this shoe, we must first talk about the history of moccasins.

It is difficult to say which country originally created the prototype of modern leather shoes, because Europe and the United States have influenced each other, and the same is true for moccasins and loafers.

The name "Mocassin" comes from the language of the Algonquin People, an indigenous people of North America, "makasin". In their culture, this word means "shoes". At that time, these indigenous people lived in soft leather shoes made of deerskin. As the times changed, the leather shoe covers at the middle seam of the upper were replaced by styles with long tongues in the front, seams on the front, and no heels.

The moccasin became the predecessor of the loafer, thanks to a Norwegian shoemaker, Nils Gregoriusoon Tveranger. He learned about moccasins when he was an apprentice shoemaker in Boston, Massachusetts, and later returned to his homeland to open his own shoe store. In 1926, he launched the "Aurland Mocassin" inspired by moccasins. This shoe was later exported to New Hampshire (north of Massachusetts), where some shoe companies launched their own versions and named it Loafer (meaning lazy) because of its softness, easy to put on and take off, and suitable for lazy people. [6]

Therefore, the 180 loafer is not original, but because the shoe body has French elegant lines and durability, it happened to catch up with the Ivy Style trend and the French subculture "Bande du Drugstore" that were popular in the 1950s. Although the causes and characteristics of these two trends are different, they have a common feature - a group of students made the conservative and authoritative school uniforms casual and informal, expressing a fearless rebellious declaration through their attire.

The Ivy style has become well-known in Taiwan thanks to the Japanese, but the French "drugstore gang" is less well-known. This group of people can be said to be a great help in promoting the JM Weston 180 loafers.

"Drugstore Gang" is a literal translation. The so-called Drugstore Gang is not a group of drug addicts, but refers to a group of young people (Minets) who gathered in a shopping mall called "Publicis Drugstore" in France at that time. They often gathered in this place, so they were called "Drugstore Gang" (Bande du Drugstore). These people are usually students from Catholic schools, cynical, and hate everything mainstream in France. They call themselves the "Beat Generation", but they are not.

They sought spiritual resonance by listening to British music or soul, and by wearing gold-buttoned blazers, houndstooth or flannel jackets, brightly colored sweaters, flea-market oxford-collared shirts, corduroy trousers (jeans were worn by pop rockers and French Ivy Leaguers),[7] and JM Weston 180 loafers for their bare feet. [8]

Although this subculture was not as popular as the Ivy League style on the East Coast of the United States, which lasted only from 1965 to 1968, its short-lived popularity led the French elite to follow suit and continued to fuel JM Weston's popularity.

Adhere to the exquisite leather making skills of traditional handwork
In 1974, JM Weston was acquired by the renowned French footwear group André [9] , but the brand did not abandon its original commitment to quality. In 1981, the then CEO Jean-Louis Descours bought the Bastin & Fils tannery, which had a longer history near Limoges. [10]

The tannery has been adhering to the ancient method until now, and has been very careful from the beginning of cattle breeding, ensuring that the cattle have enough living space to prevent the fences from scratching their skin, or excessive crowding causing the cattle to fight and leave scars. After all, top-quality leather shoes should not have any scratches. Even natural growth marks will be pointed out by connoisseurs, so brands pay close attention to this.

In addition, JM Weston only uses cowhide that is moderately hard and not too wrinkled, and immerses the leather in a vegetable tanning agent made from Italian and Latin American white quebracho. It is then placed in an open-air pit, layer by layer of leather and bark. After adding water, it is left to stand for 8 to 10 months, allowing the tannic acid to slowly work with time, turning it into a precious gift from nature.

This lengthy leather-making process and the hand-sewing process that has remained unchanged for over a hundred years are the key elements that have enabled JM Weston to remain timeless from generation to generation.

Currently, OAK ROOM not only introduces JM Weston's classic shoes: 180 loafers , Chelsea boots , golf derby shoes , etc., but also has trendy modern styles. Please visit the brand page for details , or visit the store to try them on in person.