Red Wing The History , Production & Quality

100 years ago Redwing Minnesota was a Riverport growing as fast as it could farms and factories shops and hotels sprang up and grew like the wheat in the surrounding Rich Mississippi River Valley it was a great time to be in business Charles Beckman shoe seller thought so although what he really wanted was a boot that fit and that would last see he watched the blacksmiths the Carpenters and the farmers and he saw that they really needed more than one kind of boot and more than four sizes hard work required the right boots when no manufacturer could help him he helped himself and with other investors started the Redwing shoe company soon every 10 hours 110 pairs of boots marched out of the that first factory the story of the extraordinary fit comfort and durability of Redwing boots spread and the company flourished Redwings commitment to make shoes that fit the job continued and in 1912 we introduced the black and brown Chief especially made for Farmers with manure proof leather it carried the new company logo a likeness of the legendary Dakota Chief Redwing but global troubles reached Redwing when World War I erupted soon all the young men left town to fight women entered the plants to begin making the famous persing boot number 1088 for our fighting men it was so popular that we continued to make that boot until 1965 as the decades passed the work that people did changed and we changed with it today we produce over 2 million shoes a year nearly 10,000 pair each day we make over 180 Styles and we deliver work play and Leisure shoes to more than 100 countries so no matter the size of your foot or the demands of your job Redwing has a shoe for you built to fit built to last before we send a shoe out the door before we put on the so before we shape the shoe before we assemble the parts before we cut the leather we ask our customers what they want us to do we learn everything there is to know about the job the worker and the shoes they are currently using and then we design a better shoe we figure out the best materials or find a new material we try existing patterns and we create radical new ones and then we test that shoe in the real world of hard work and hard play when we're finally convinced that we have a better shoe to offer only then do we begin to build them it all begins with the leather in the beginning Charles Beckman teamed up with the SB foot Tannery so he could get the best most durable leather for his shoes today we own and operate that Tannery so we control the quality of our leather our hides are chosen by us for our boots we make no compromises on leather every year 140,000 full hides plus tons of hooks and eyelets plus 3,281 Mi of laces plus 250,000 gallons of liquid soles are brought together by the good people in our raw materials Warehouse they help keep the factories running a Redwing shoe Starts Here In The Cutting Room our Cutters average 26 years on the job so their highly skilled work and careful calculations are masked by movements that appear nearly effortless they are cutting out the different pieces of leather required to make a particular boot they lay a die like a cookie cutter on the leather and then use a hydraulic press to create a crisp clean cut you'll see them jump from die to die these crafts people have been well trained and they know from experience exactly from where on the hide each piece must be cut if the boot is to live up to the standards required to be a Redwing man-made materials are used to line the inside of many of our boots to improve fit and comfort we cut them on a computerized cutting machine built to fit built to last Redwing [Music] shoes welcome to the fitting room where naturally enough we are fitting together the pieces the Cutters created dozens of experienced skilled hands sew one piece to another proudly building a Redwing boot in fact building some Redwing boots requires over 120 hand operations in the fitting room alone there are often 30 steps it's a logical path we follow but at first it's hard to tell what's happening think of it as building a kit you put the sub assemblies together first and then join them into larger parts let's start here a label including the size is sewn onto a gusset which is the soft piece of leather under the laces some parts get die marked to guide the sewing done later and some get trimmed that's called skying she's cutting a bevel on the edge here she's attaching a liner for the toe notice that part of it isn't glued that's so the steel toe can be inserted later here's the beginning of a heel being assembled this computer controlled stitching is sewing quarters to counters here's what it looks like on the eventual boot dozens of people join this piece to that one and soon you can recognize parts of your boots see that Stitch that's purin triple stitching it's one of the things that makes Red Wings just plain better stitching is very free form hand workk that takes a great deal of eye hand coordination we assemble the gusset and attach the eyelets and finally we attach gusset and Vamp this is called gusset stitching and then your Redwing is ready for lasting the next Department built to fit built to last Redwing [Music] Shoes this is the lasting department where we fit the shoes to your feet but your feet are busy so we use last to stand in for you our lasts are made to be the same shape as your foot so we have over 30 Styles in hundreds of sizes they are made of a very dense plastic so we can use them many times over before they have to be replaced we begin with an insole the foundation of a Redwing when we're done the insole will keep the rest of the components working together maintaining the boot's shape and comfort here you can see the insole below the insole will create stability cushioning and wear resistance from the insole up you'll experience comfort and stability a shoe working with the shape of your foot some insoles get hand cut a lot like we cut the leather While others get cut by computerized equipment she's applying a layer of cment we let that dry for a bit and send it along so we can attach the ply rib we'll connect the rest of the boot to this rib just a bit later these are the hands of Redwing Shoes the hands of true Crafts People fast strong skillful hands with no wasted motion first we temporarily tack the insole to the last then we insert a counter a stiffener between two layers of the heel and Tack the whole boot to the last again temporarily this is four-part lasting here the front of the shoe the vamp is softened by heat and stretched over the last the toe the most noticeable part of your boot is formed but sometimes they pull the leather back and what you see is the liner that's because they're going to insert a steel toe between the leather and liner but first we trim off some excess material a little adhesive a quick Tapper to and the steel toe is on we add a strip to hide the steel Edge because Red Wings must be strong and goodlooking now we pull the leather back over the toe and cement it in place automatic extruders shoot just the right amount of glue and clamps hold it in place until it dries the next job is to pull the leather down tight on the last and staple the sides we have to take out those temporary tacks give the heel a nice shape this is called seat lasting and cut off some excess material and send the boot off to bottoming the next step to becoming a Redwing built to fit built to last Redwing [Music] Shoes bottoming this is where the rubber meets the road well sort of we do attach the bottoms or soles of shoes here but the outsoles are actually made of three materials urethane Rubber and crepe we attach Bottoms in two basic ways the first is called traditional welt attachment because it's the way soles have been attached since even before we began making shoes the other method is direct attach because the bottoms are molded directly onto the boot for most boots we attach a welt which provides a surface to help attach the bottom traditional welt attachment requires about a dozen steps it begins with a midsole which adds both cushioning and stability we glue on a shank sometimes metal sometimes plastic then we spread on some hot cork it looks a little like peanut butter we set it aside to dry and cool or it forms a firm cushion for your foot the next steps vary from boot style to boot style we apply cement and we sew on layers sometimes sewing all around sometimes not around the heel and we Trim in shape we cement and sew on the out soole the outsole performs two functions withstanding abuse from below yet flexible enough to protect your body from jarring with each step some boots get heels nailed on a metal plate on the last inside the boot crimps the end of the nail so they hold firm this machine Nails on the heel and those heels get trimmed and scoured which puts a nice finish on the edge it's difficult to imagine how tough this job is because he makes it seem effortless but in one cut he has to make a smooth edge to the sole beautiful our second kind of bottoming is called direct attached wel we do that in three different but similar ways we skip the bottom filler and midsole and attach the sole Direct direct ly to the wel liquid chemicals partially fill a mold the boot is clamped into the mold and sent off into the tunnel as it passes through the Chemicals React completely filling the mold bonding to the boot and hardening at the end of the tunnel he un clamps the boot sends it off to finishing and reloads for another cycle variations on this process allow us to do some amazing things with bottom we can mold two densities one for durability and one for Comfort we can include special inserts like this we can even attach directly to the boot with no welt at all this robot is roughing the side of the boot making a surface for the urethane to adhere to here's what the finished boot looks like that's the story of bottoming and we are near the bottom of the story it's on to finishing built to fit built to last Redwing [Music] Shoes the final step for a Redwing is finishing and that's what we're doing first it's the last of the lasts these last pullers are removing them and sending them back to start the next pair of Red Wings One Last Time crafts people put hands on the boots to add some oil here some rubbing there until the boot is perfect some boots get a foot bed what you feel most when you walk it must be tough stable and soft all at once to cushion your foot and provide just the right amount of comfort and support we use technically Superior materials to ensure healthy walking day after day some boots need laces of course we go through mildes miles of laces boxes are prepared then each boot gets wrapped and boxed up for the trip out of the factory and into distribution first stop is the warehouse where you'll typically find 300,000 pairs of Footwear every week 50,000 pairs leave this Warehouse going to retailers in over 100 countries around the world it is there in a shoe store that our Story begins and ends from our founder until today Redwing has always been about good fit our salespeople are especially trained to measure and fit your shoes and they will carefully match your needs to the proper Footwear choosing from over 180 Styles in 23 sizes and 10 widths well I think that Redwing always has prided itself on being the best work shoe and the best performing shoe in the market we tend to use only the best materials that we can and I like to think that the people that work here take their time to do the job right we get letters from customers um saying how wonderful the shoes are and and um like the steel toes that they've saved somebody's toe from getting crushed very proud very proud that we still have an americanmade shoe cuz let's face it you got H got good shoes and happy feet you're a happy person is that right our boots have helped build the world from buildings and bridges to Gardens and games everywhere people work hard or play hard you'll see Redwing [Music] Shoes built to fit buil to last Redwing shoes

Channel: Stuarts London - Directors Cut

Views: 711,557

Keywords: stuarts London, stuarts, redwing, red wing, red wing boots, mens fashion, men's fashion, men's footwear, designer shoe, Shoes Guys

Id: 4NBnInlYogU

Length: 16min 32sec (992 seconds)

Published: Fri May 11 2012