The Stitchdown Shoecast

15 years ago Viberg was pretty firmly Canada’s most hardcore logging and industrial boot company. Since Brett Viberg took over the reins of the nearly 100-year-old brand from his father Glen, Viberg has in many ways completely changed the high-end, recraftable boot market—most notably with its Service Boot, which became a legitimate game-shifting icon, and inspiration to many. 

In our last chat in 2021, Viberg was in the midst of directional shift again, although you could only catch traces of what that would mean in the years to come. Now, two and a half years later, Brett’s vision is starting to present itself in a product line that’s in some ways the classic Viberg of the last decade, and in others something totally different. 

And so I poked and prodded Brett on what’s been happening out in public and behind the scenes, as we also traced back his personal Viberg timeline to understand how in the hell a Canadian logging boot company is somehow now creating some of the most well-made production dress shoes in the entire world. 

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

To be honest I didn’t think I’d ever get Brian the Bootmaker on this show—he doesn’t do many interviews at all, and for whatever reason I was, quite frankly, kind of afraid to ask him. Which in hindsight is insane because he’s about as sweet and genuine and fantastic to talk to as people come.

Working out of the central Los Angeles workshop he first wandered into in high school while looking for thread to customize some sneakers, Brian IS Role Club, hand-making some of the world’s most distinctive and in-demand custom boots alongside his beloved teacher Nacho for going on a decade and a half.

One of the earliest stories I posted on Stitchdown.com was about a YouTube video of Brian resoling an Alden Indy Boot with a Vibram mini ripple sole. Some said it was sacrilege! But all of Brian’s videos, and work, reflect him so well. He’s an innovator despite relying on techniques hundreds of years old, a calm in the content storm, a still young man who loves nothing more than really old boots. And one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever chatted with. 

Also he just might be Mister Rogers. 

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

When you grow up in a shoe repair shop directly next door to your actual house, it's hard to not catch the cobbling bug. But oh did Molly Monahan try to resist.

After learning how to repair motorcycles and doing some farming for a bit, Molly one day told her mother "we're opening the shop back up!" and immediately put mom back to work making leathergoods, before realizing she herself barely knew how to repair a damned thing.

Over a decade (and four kids, who themselves are growing up in a cobbler shop!) later, Molly and Sally run the reborn Saleigh Mountain Co., the epitome of a folksy, small-town, repair-everything shop in Hermann, Missouri. I chatted with Molly about the crucial importance of  local shops in a world where high-end customization operations are thriving, the boots that have carried her through it all, and perhaps most importantly, piddling. Man is there a lot of piddling in this episode.

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

This episode's chat is with Jess Wootten of…Wootten! The Ballarat, Australia boots and shoes and leathergoods maker that is doing some very interesting work. 

We covered how Jess somewhat tripped into a family tradition of bootmaking, ran down what Wootten's making in Ballarat and how, some common misconceptions about the Blake/Rapid (aka McKay welted) construction that Wootten often deploys, what it's like to grow a boutique bootmaking operation (not easy!), why Australians are possibly overly obsessed with Chelsea boots, and plenty more.

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

“The only way I learned was making many mistakes and losing a shit ton of money in the process” is how Kevin Wilson neatly sums up the never-simple process of getting Caswell Boot Company off the ground. 

In the past five years since saying "I'm going to start a boot company!", Kevin's stared down a failed Kickstarter attempt, his original US-based factory shutting down, patterns gone missing, rising costs in every possible area, and all the general fickleness that comes standard with manufacturing high-quality footwear.

But Kevin has found a truly powerful audience while building a brand that does things a bit differently, especially in terms of custom options, a hugely impressive leather array, and manufacturing in four different countries—including, soon, the US again.

We break down Caswell's different lines and how he manages to cohere them together, the bevy of mistakes he made along the way, an entirely new brand he's been plotting for a bit, and what inspired him a half-decade ago to say “a regular person can do this.”

Caswell's website: https://www.caswellbootco.com/

This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots 

Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

Ben and Ticho once again dip into the Shoebag to answer listener questions—and tap in some special experts along the way—including: how to size boots to match orthotic inserts? What are some of the best brands for Women’s GYW shoes? Our thoughts on revolutionary new sole materials? Initial footwear “hard pass” that you eventually learned to love? How to start working as a bootmaker?

And obviously, because it's highly shoe related, what are the best road trip snacks? 

__________

This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots

Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

She was born in Canada and grew up in New Zealand, but few people could possibly seem more at home making bespoke cowboy boots in Guthrie, Oklahoma than Flora Knight. Learning the craft from two of the historic western city's best teachers imaginable—bootmaking legends Lisa Sorrell and Ray Dorwart—certainly didn't hurt things. Neither did her other obsession: old-time American fiddle-playing.

But Flora has most definitely carved out her own path to become a supremely talented bootmaker in her own right. On this episode of the Shoecast, Ben chatted with Flora about the most brutal days in the workshop being some of her best learning experiences, why you can't force artistry in bootmaking, and how to draw out a customer's personal vision, all while considering how the music and boots she creates reflect a pre-industrial society that might just have been a little bit better.

https://www.instagram.com/floraknightbootmaker/


This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots

Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

Phil Kalas of the Full Grain Podcast takes over the Shoecast this week to interview Ben about his recent trip to boots-and-shoes mecca Tokyo—expect a deep-dive into city's astounding footwear scene, why and how it exists, plus a preview of five upcoming feature videos that'll be coming out before too long. 

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

In long-overdue returns to the Shoecast, White’s Boots President Eric Kinney and Division Road’s Jason Pecarich sat down to pull back the curtain on what it’s really like to develop new footwear products, getting into every twist and turn on past collaborative makeups as well as some forthcoming never-before-seen construction + style combos. 

We also hit on White’s lead times improving, very promising new boot-shoes, and what to expect at the White’s residency at Division Road this September 20th-21st. Also: what in the heck are “lifestyle” boots anyway, and do we need a new word for them?? 

Give it a listen through LINK IN BIO!


Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/

Amara Hark-Weber surely must be one of the most delightful people in this world—which anyone could likely tell just from looking at the remarkably unique and creative boots and shoes the Twin Cities, Minnesota-based custom maker creates.

This episode, Amara fought through a cold to discuss why she makes EVERY pair different from the previous, the incredible teachers who helped her learn the craft in very different ways, why she owns approximately 100,000 awls, not sleeping the night before a customer picks up their pair, her work spreading the gospel of great shoemaking in museum and academic settings, and slashing boots (which is exactly what it sounds like).

Amara's site: https://www.harkweberstudio.com/

Josh's written interview with Amara: https://www.stitchdown.com/the-stitchdown-conversation/amara-hark-weber/

Amara's Voices of Contemporary Shoemakers article: https://www.craftcouncil.org/post/voices-contemporary-shoemakers

Hand Made in America: Contemporary Custom Footwear: https://cdmc.wisc.edu/hand-made-in-america-contemporary-custom-footwear/

Between Dreams and Reality: Bespoke Footwear: https://penland.org/gallery/2024_horn_bespoke-footwear/

2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast and join the most interesting shoe-and-boot-loving community on the internet with a Stitchdown Premium membership

https://www.stitchdown.com/join-stitchdown-premium/