If you have heard of a famous shoe maker it must be John Lobb. But what else do you know about John Lobb?
Lobb's motto is the biblical, "The last shall be first" (Matt. 20:16).
John Lobb had been a poor Cornish labourer. One of his feet was injured and deformed in an accident when he was 12 years old and so, in order to get a pair of shoes that would accommodate him, he wanted to become a shoe maker.
He approached Old Man Thomas. Old Man Thomas (another famous shoe maker) threw the job-seeking, young Lobb out of his James' Street shop. The young Lobb brandished a horny Cornish fist and shouted as he left - prophetically - that he would build a firm that would crush Thomas'. And he did just that.
John Lobb trained as a boot-maker elsewhere in London before moving to Australia to try his luck in the goldfields. He never found his fortune in gold but instead came up with the brainwave of making hollow heeled boots for prospectors to hide their gold. The idea caught on and John Lobb set himself up in business in Sydney in 1858. When the Great Exhibition came along in 1862 he sent a pair of his boots along and won a gold medal for their quality.
Twelve months later he sent a pair of his riding boots to the Prince of Wales. He had obtained the Prince's foot measurements by getting some inside knowledge (who knows how from the other side of the world, when the only communications were by sailing ship). The Prince was extremely pleased with the boots and Lobb was awarded a Royal Warrant on 12 October 1863. At that time Lobb was still a tradesman in New South Wales, Australia.
The firm today proudly holds two Royal Warrants to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
He returned to London in the 1860's and established a business "John Lobb, Bootmaker" which continues to trade as the world's most famous bespoke shoemaking establishment.
Like a lot of the top bespoke makers in London, the family founded a Paris branch, before WWI in 1901. The two Lobb shops made only bespoke shoes.
In WWII the German bombs of the Blitz blew the London premises to bits, six times. But the German's could not stop Lobb from rebuilding.
The Lobb family owned both shops until 1974, when they sold the Paris branch to Hermes. Hermes also aquired the rights to use the John Lobb name as a ready-to-wear shoe brand (see http://www.johnlobb.com). Hermes spent more than ten years developing the ready-to-wear lasts and line before launching the brand.
The London shop on St. James Street is still owned by the Lobb family, and only makes bespoke shoes (see http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk). Every other John Lobb shop is owned by Hermes and sells the Lobb Paris ready-to-wear shoes. The Paris branch also makes bespoke shoes, and does trunk shows in the various Lobb ready-to-wear shops. Lobb St. James travels to the US and takes orders in hotel suits, much like the travelling Savile Row taiors.
Who has worn a pair of Lobb's? Where the Prince led the rich and famous followed: kings, maharajahs, actors, singers, politicians, business moguls and literati among them. An opera fan could visit Lobbs and hope to mingle with the likes of Enrico Caruso or Gigli, those of a more popular taste Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. A business man might hope to glean tips from Aristotle Onassis or Guglielmo Marconi. An aspiring writer could see George Bernard Shaw or Roald Dahl. Lovers of the stage might spot Cole Porter, Lord Olivier or Rex Harrison and a young ambitious politician could rub shoulders with Prime Ministers of Great Britain like Harold MacMillan and Ted Heath or political leaders from around the world. And maybe, one day, you.
So now you know a little more than the average bear about John Lobb shoes.
Sources:
"History Of Men's Fashion" by Nicholas Storey
http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/boot.html#fantasy
http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/history/history.htm
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