The Stitchdown Shoecast Stitchdown

For the penultimate episode of the 11th season of the Stitchdown Shoecast, I’m quite excited indeed to be chatting with the just ridiculously talented man they call Bob Henderson. Bob is the operations manager at Popov Leather, the bustling leathergoods workshop over yonder in British Columbia, Canada—and over the last few years has been sucked up by the indomitable tractor beam known as bootmaking, operating as Bob Henderson Handmade Boots.
In a nice and rangy chat, Bob and I get into how Popov came to be and has managed to become a major player in the ever-more-crowded wallets, belts, and other small leathergoods space, what handmade really means in a world where the term is easily abused, his descent into bootmaking madness, old Toyota trucks (finally) and how they inspire his boot designs, why he wishes he could live at Disneyland forever, and plenty more—this one’s about bootmaking, and business-building, and why we care about what we care about.

This time Ben sits down with two, count ‘em TWO Fritz Seidels: Fritz Jr. and Fritz Sr., who every day are continuing on the tradition of the four-generation, 79-year-old Siedel Tanning Corp in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In addition to getting the lowdown on some longtime Seidel favorite leathers and overlooked gems, we get into Seidel’s history and fluid approach to tanning and meeting shifting market demands, what in the hell all that machinery in a tannery is doing all day long, why making heavyweight boot leathers is so damn tough—and of course, cows getting diaper rash.

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This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots

Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Before he bolts for a very important trip to the bread store, Ticho is back in the leather-smelly homestead for perhaps our most comprehensive Shoebag episode ever, in which we discuss what shoe care products are essential and which you don't really need, brands we'd love to see restored to their former glory, what to wear with Red Wings (vague hint: anything!), how many midsoles is just too many midsoles, what we'll look back at in 10 years and make fun of ourselves for, and plenty more!

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This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone

Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

When London (by way of Australia) bespoke shoemaker Sebastian Tarek began making shoes in high school, his grandmother let him in on a little secret: he had been preceded in his journey by 18 generations of family cordwainers.

After years of schooling—including at the famed Cordwainers College in Hackney, London—he eventually ended up settling into a role as a bottom-maker for some of Savile Row's most prestigious bespoke firms, both in an in-house capacity and also as an piece-work outworker.

Today, Sebastian continues his outwork...work...while also creating his own bespoke shoes and boots for clients, as well as select ready-to-wear collections for retailers in Japan and elsewhere. While the outwork keeps his skills sharp and focused, Sebastian's personal shoemaking style is a raw, anti-elegant ("I don't want the act of shoemaking to be the attempt to replicate and perfect something a machine can do") exploration of UK-based materials, all sprung from a love of old worn denim, centuries-old Japanese farmhouses, and possible overuse of the word "singularity".

To top it all off, Sebastian's about as delightfully affable and humble as people get, and there are few people more enjoyable to talk shoes and shoemaking with. So I did that!

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This episode was sponsored by Grant Stone
 Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Adam Goldberg has quite legitimately always been one of my favorite actors—and from Dazed & Confused, to the Fargo TV show, to A Beautiful Mind, he has always been EXCELLENTLY attired, right down to his boots.

But he doesn't just play a person who cares about boots on TV and in movies! Adam is a very real-deal obsessive who's neck deep in Clinch, Zerrow's, and quite possibly too much more.

In an episode that will surely open the floodgates to most-to-all of Hollywood coming on the Shoecast to confess their footwear compulsions, Adam and Ben discuss boots he wore in different roles—usually self-selected!—sings a lovely rendition of "Working My Way Back to Ropers", tells the twist-and-turn-filled tale of his decades-long quest to get James Dean's boots reproduced, and announces the "only"(ha!) pair of boots he wants, all while we attempt to figure out what the hell is wrong with us for loving this stuff so much.

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This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots—who turns 60 this year!

Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

Back in 1989, Tony Wyatt and his brother Lance launched Wyatt & Dad Cobbler Company (and even trained their retired-preacher dad to do shoe repair work, so no it's not just a clever name). Thirty five years later, the operation has seen endless swings in the cobbling industry, weathering them as well as any operation out there.

The goal was always to build a chain that could deliver essential shoe repair services to communities in North Carolina big and small, and that's exactly what happened—with expansion and contraction following the whims of customers. Today, Wyatt & Dad has two shops...plus, obviously, a cabin in the middle of nowhere, where Tobias Crislip does incredibly high-end repair, restoration, and customization work that's mailed in from all over the globe.

On the latest Shoecast episode, I chatted with Tony and Tobias about how it all started for each of them and how they've smartly identified shifting opportunities over the decades, old TV commercials and billboards...about cobblers...why every cobbler is seemingly required to have a thriving YouTube channel, where the trade is going and how to keep it alive and humming in a very real way in 2024 and beyond, and plenty more.


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This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange

Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera