PROVENANCE
THE MAKING
WHAT IT TAKES. WHERE IT HAPPENS. WHY IT CANNOT BE DONE ANY OTHER WAY.
EVERY DECISION MADE INSIDE AN 1812 SNEAKER HAS A REASON. THIS PAGE IS WHERE THOSE REASONS LIVE.
01
THE DECISION TO MAKE IN ENGLAND
1812 WAS NOT BUILT TO FIT IN.
IT WAS BUILT ON THE CONVICTION THAT SOMETHING COULD BE MADE IN ENGLAND THAT HAD NEVER BEEN MADE BEFORE. NOT DEFINED BY HERITAGE FOR ITS OWN SAKE. NOT BY TREND OR BY VOLUME. BY THE QUALITY OF THINKING BEHIND EVERY DECISION.
SHOEMAKING IN ENGLAND HAS BEEN AN ORGANISED CRAFT SINCE 1272. THE KNOWLEDGE IS IN THE WALLS OF THE WORKSHOPS. IN THE WAY A HIDE IS HELD TO THE LIGHT. IN THE PULL OF LEATHER OVER LAST. THAT KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT TRANSFER. IT ACCUMULATES, GENERATION BY GENERATION, PAIR BY PAIR.
THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO THIS. THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE.
MADE IN ENGLAND IS NOT A LABEL. IT IS A COMMITMENT.
02
THE LAST
BEFORE THE LEATHER. BEFORE THE STITCH. BEFORE ANYTHING, THE LAST.
EVERY 1812 LAST IS MADE IN ENGLAND BY SPRINGLINE. THE FORM THEY PRODUCE DETERMINES EVERYTHING, PROPORTION, STANCE, FIT, PRESENCE.
A LAST IS NOT A MOULD. IT IS A DECISION ABOUT HOW A FOOT SHOULD BE HELD. HOW A SILHOUETTE SHOULD READ. HOW THE SNEAKER SHOULD FEEL AGAINST THE GROUND AFTER YEARS OF WEAR.
A SNEAKER IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE LAST IT WAS BUILT ON.
03
THE MATERIALS
LEATHER HAS MEMORY. IT HOLDS THE MARK OF EVERY HOUR WORN AND EVERY YEAR STORED.
EVERY HIDE USED IN AN 1812 SNEAKER IS CHOSEN FOR WHAT IT BECOMES UNDER WEAR. NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NEW.
NOTHING IS ARBITRARY. EVERYTHING IS EARNED.
04
THE SOLE
THE SOLE IS WHERE THE SNEAKER MEETS THE WORLD. IT IS THE LEAST VISIBLE PART AND THE MOST CONSIDERED.
EACH SOLE UNIT IS DRAWN FROM THE GEOMETRY OF THE SILHOUETTE ABOVE IT. THE RELIEF, CARVED LINES, SUBTLE UNDULATIONS, TAKES ITS FORM FROM NEOLITHIC FORMATIONS. FROM COASTAL ROCK. FROM SEDIMENT LAID DOWN OVER CENTURIES.
THE COMPOUND IS SELECTED FOR GROUND FEEL. FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO MOVE. STRUCTURED ENOUGH TO HOLD THE LINE OVER YEARS.
BUILT TO BE REPLACED. EVERY PAIR CAN BE RESOLED.
05
THE CONSTRUCTION
A SNEAKER MADE BY HAND IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT OBJECT TO ONE THAT IS NOT.
THE DIFFERENCE IS NOT VISIBLE IMMEDIATELY. IT REVEALS ITSELF OVER YEARS, IN THE WAY THE LEATHER FORMS TO THE FOOT. IN THE CONSISTENCY OF THE STITCH. IN THE WAY THE SOLE HOLDS ITS BOND THROUGH SEASONS OF WEAR.
EVERY PIECE IS CUT BY HAND. EVERY PAIR IS CLOSED, LASTED AND FINISHED BY HAND IN ENGLAND. EACH PAIR IS INSPECTED AGAINST THE SAME STANDARD AS THE FIRST.
ONE SNEAKER A YEAR. EVERY PAIR BY HAND. EVERY MATERIAL CHOSEN WITH THE SAME SERIOUSNESS AS THE SILHOUETTE IT BECOMES.
06
THE DESIGN
DESIGN IS WHERE EVERYTHING BEGINS AND WHERE MOST THINGS END.
WE WORK SLOWLY. ONE SNEAKER A YEAR, RELEASED WHEN IT IS READY. EACH SILHOUETTE BEGINS WITH A QUESTION AND IS RESOLVED ONLY WHEN NOTHING CAN BE ADDED AND NOTHING SHOULD BE REMOVED.
THE REFERENCES ARE DEEP. MOORE. RAMS. POLLOCK. THE FRACTURED GEOMETRY OF CORNISH SLATE. THE SILENCE INSIDE A ROTHKO. THESE ARE NOT MOOD BOARDS. THEY ARE THE CONDITIONS FROM WHICH THE WORK EMERGES.
THE MIDAS. EACH NAME IS A BRIEF. A WEIGHT CARRIED BEFORE A SINGLE STITCH IS MADE. THE SNEAKER MUST EARN IT.
WE DO NOT FOLLOW.
07
THE AFTERLIFE
A SECOND LIFE. MADE IN THE SAME HANDS AS THE FIRST.
WHEN THE SOLE WEARS, RETURN THEM TO US. THE UPPER, ALREADY SHAPED TO THE EXACT CONTOURS OF THE FOOT, IS PRESERVED ENTIRELY.
RELASTED. RESOLED. REFINISHED BY HAND. RETURNED IN 1812 PACKAGING WITH UPDATED CARE GUIDANCE.
THE PAIR GOES ON.
GO DEEPER
