In Their Shoes interview with Michael James of Spring Line
Notes
- started at Spring Line on a youth training scheme, by chance
Woods
- they’ve moved away from Canadian maple to farmed Hornbeam
- they still use maple for shoe trees
- bespoke makers prefer beech because it’s easier to modify after their test fittings
- Spring Line itself prefers hornbeam for model lasts, since it lasts longer in the machines
Model Room
- currently have four people in the model room
- the hard parts of learning model making are lines, curves, and balance
- can tell within a few months whether someone will make a good model maker
- production lasts can require more precision than bespoke lasts, for example when fitting precisely to other manufactured components
- each model maker has a “handwriting”, a style that the other model makers can recognize
- even tries to put some style in orthopedic lasts
- has lasts and shoe memorabilia all over his house
- Old lastmaking standards were higher. Things were simplified in the 60s and 70s. For example, they moved cones to the centers of the lasts. [allusion to inside cones?]
How Spring Line Survived
- they once competed with Mobbs Miller in Kettering
- Spring Line took those clients, so kept in touch with fashion
- Spring Line supply everyone in Northampton
- development service for overseas production
Other Crafts
- Michael keeps a written diary of what he works on
- wants to try pottery as another craft
- takes five years to get someone ready to work with customers
Normal Day
- comes in early
- writes a lot of lists
- feels good crossing things off
- check where everything is
- see what has to get out that day
Women at Spring Line
- have two girls working in the factory
- 22 and 2 are ladies, plus one in the office
- need an eye for detail, in factory or in model room
Mentoring
- people come to him for checks and with questions
- “they’ve got it, really”
- lots of e-mails
- still makes models
- does Instagram on his phone
- tries to sell Northampton
- not much interest in old factory photos
- much more interest in photos of lastmaking
- “technology is alien”
Best Advice Received
- Surround yourself with positive, creative people. Avoid negative people.
- when started at Spring Line, there were two partners: one was creative, enjoyed it, one was unhappy
Advice for Aspiring Lastmakers
- make a living, but won’t be wealthy
- “but the rewards are fantastic”
- “gentle craft”
- “the people you meet”
- measure feet of people you’d never meet
Most Famous Feet
- proudest moment: Prince Charles, through Trickers
- came for their 190th year
- invited him to do a last display and talk to him
- he wrote a letter
- lots of sports and celebs
- measured a bunch that are going to display in a museum exhibition
- coolest guy: Idris Elba
- he came to the factory
- “what a guy!”
- “some people just light up the whole place”
- “spoke to everybody”
Positive Business
- high standards
- recycle all the plastic off the machines
- “we could improve”
- still have a diesel van
- plateaued for about four years, mainly due to COVID
- wrecked a lot of plans
- thinking about pelletizing wood to heat the factory instead of oil
- thinking about solar panels
- limitation is time
Eldest Son
- started ten years ago
- went to Edward Green to be a pattern cutter
- now back at Spring Line
- good model maker
- senior shareholder is 75, may want to move on
The Future
- “not a Brexiteer”
- has “evened things up”
- more people looking to make things in the UK
- “little cottage-y type…little brands”
- “realized that things haven’t got to be produced like sausages”
- really tried during COVID not to buy on Amazon, bought Welsh-made jeans
- started before COVID
- won’t ever be producing tens of thousands of pairs a week
- Michael wants to teach
- unfortunately, lots not written down
- spoke to Cordwainers
- wants to get involved with Northamptonshire university again
- impressive student portfolios at Cordwainers awards event