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FASHION & CONSUMER DEMAND
32
WORLD FOOTWEAR | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
M
ore than seven million people living in the UK in
2010 were born in other parts of the world,
almost 12% of the total population. Cultural,
culinary and linguistic diversity are enriching, but
there is a spin-off for the footwear industry in having so many
people from other countries living in the UK. So says Eve Davies,
brand director of specialist children’s footwear brand Start-rite.
Norfolk-based Start-rite has an important place in the history
of the shoe industry in the UK. It was founded in 1792 by a
cordwainer in Norwich called James Smith. To offer local
people a more affordable alternative to the typical, bespoke
shoe of the time, he began to work to common sizes so as to
be able to offer cheaper shoes off the peg.
Innovation must have run in the family because, according to
Start-rite, Mr Smith’s grandson, Charles Winter, became the first
footwear manufacturer to use the newly developed sewing-
machine to make shoes. In turn, it was Mr Winter’s grandson,
James Southall, who brought to market the brand name Start-
rite and the understanding that footwear manufacturers need
to bear in mind a different series of requirements for children’s
shoes compared to adult shoes. In 1928, the company
commissioned a study into children’s feet to confirm its belief
that children should be catered for differently.
By the 1950s, it had stopped making adult shoes altogether
to concentrate exclusively on using the knowledge it had built
up of children’s feet and the reputation it had earned as a
supplier of quality children’s shoes to expand the Start-rite brand
further. It worked hard on its lasts to make shoes that fitted
young feet correctly and to offer a range of width fittings that it
felt had been lacking in the market until then. Children, parents
and grandparents living throughout the UK in the second half of
the twentieth century came to associate the name Start-rite with
serious children’s shoes that fitted correctly and lasted a long
time, far from the cheapest but good value for money.
A mother and child from Nottingham meet music star Myleene Klass for a fitting of Start-rite shoes.
Children’s footwear brand Start-rite has
been a by-word for quality shoes that fit
young feet well for decades. It is now
working harder than ever to get its message
across to new generations of parents
.
New parents, old values