The Stitchdown Shoecast

Carmina Albaladejo heads US operations for the exquisite Spanish shoemaker with the exact same (first) name as her. 

In this Stitchdown Shoecast episode we discuss how six generations of family history led to the founding of the Carmina brand, manufacturing in Spain, Carmina's growing US and global retail strategy (and the crucial importance of physical shoe stores), the brand's top-flight online customizer tool, the new leveled-up Albaladejo Collection, and plenty more.

https://www.carminashoemaker.com/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

Hermann Oak has been tanning leather in St. Louis since 1881, and they pretty much still do it the same way—one way, which of course is veg-tanning. Traditionally a major player in the equestrian leather world, Hermann Oak is edging into the quality footwear space in a hugely exciting way. 

So I chatted with Hermann Oak President Drew Gulick about the tanner's deep history, how making footwear leather is different from equestrian or tooling leather, and of course their core bridle, harness, and latigo products. 

Come see Hermann Oak and PLENTY of other tanneries, shoe-/bootmakers, and more at Stitchdown Expo 2026 Chicago this Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events!

https://www.hermannoakleather.com/

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

Back in 2021, I got a great email from a young bootmaker named Nathan Florsheim who wanted to chat. Boy am I glad I took that call. 

About a year later I had Nathan—great great great grandson of Milton Florsheim, yes, THAT Florsheim—on the Shoecast. Four years and 130 handmade pairs later, Nathan is absolutely rolling as a custom bootmaker who has truly seemed to find his own space, one that so many clients want to inhabit as well. 

So along with the man they call Ticho, we caught up about what’s changed in that time with his technical and ordering process, why slow is actually really good, how he finally set up a workshop that really works for him, the tallest man in the world’s Florsheim boots, and obviously, plenty more. 

Also Nathan just so happened to open his order books right when this episode dropped, but it’s not THAT easy to get onto his client list. So of course we made a second bonus episode for subscribers in which Nathan shares the best ways to have success putting in for an order. 

That one’s available on our Premium Subscribers feed—check out Stichdown.com to learn more about Stitchdown Premium, our very excellent private discord, and how to get access to that episode. 

https://nfbootmaker.com/

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

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

This week on the Shoecast we’re bringing back Rory Fortune, founder of Los Angeles-based Goods & Services, which continues to be one of the most interesting footwear operations out there. 

We had Rory on back in 2024, and with the Goods & Services business and product range expanding like crazy, it seemed high time to get a closer look at exactly how Rory and team convert sneakers to a resoleable welted construction—yes the video version of this episode is up on Youtube—and catch up on plenty more. 

How is the role of the modern footwear designer misunderstood? What’s going on in a rapidly shifting sneaker culture? How’d a collaboration with Red Wing lead to rethinking the Postman shoe? When does a workshop founded on customization need to pull back on it—and does that hinder creativity? How do you find and train the people needed to grow that workshop? And why won’t Rory customize your Birkenstocks, right now?

https://shopgoodsandservices.com/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

How do we keep craft alive in an over-technological society? Is it via the individual maker? Or more of a collective workshop approach? 

Houston-based bespoke cowboy bootmaker Zephan Parker has plenty of thoughts on all of it. 

Zephan used to write graffiti and listen to hip hop while wearing Ralph Lauren. Now he runs a custom bespoke cowboy boot workshop in Houston, Texas. All those things, it turns out, are very connected. I swear. 

Zephan and I get into plenty on this one, including their entire range of offerings, how the absence of design leads to the magnification of character, how Parker Boot Company is nailing the fit on $20k custom gator skin boots via remote measuring, regional differences in Texas cowboy boots, just how incredibly different running a business is from making things, and plenty more.

https://zephanparker.com/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

My chat this week is with Brooklyn -based bespoke shoemaker, educator, and artist Anne Marika Verploegh Chassé, aka STIEFELwerk. 

Two decades ago, Marika came at shoemaking from a fine arts background, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s seen her work. After years learning the craft under many of the great shoe and bookmaking teachers, today Marika focuses on the use of veg-tan leather—often from the wholly unique Hudson Valley tannery Pergamena—to create hugely intriguing and distinctive custom, filly handmade footwear from her Brooklyn apartment-turned-workshop. 

In the chat, we get into Marika showing up at her first-ever shoemaking with her entire arm in a cast; the critical importance of the shoemaking community exchanging knowledge that ISN’T written in books; her own teaching at RISD, Parson, and FIT and why it’s allowed her to keep making shoes; the joy of carving her own lasts; and the importance of always saying yes, even when it really feels like you should say no. 

Here’s Marika, on the Shoecast. 

https://www.stiefelwerk.nyc/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

It's Shoebag time for Shoecast season 17. Which means it's time for a serious dose of Ticho, who joins me to unpack all the biggest listener questions.

Why are we both suddenly wearing the same barefoot-style shoes nonstop? Which iconic footwear figure from the past (aka, dead) would we love to spend a weekend in a deeply isolated cabin with? Why do we have so much ennui generated by hiker-derived fashionshoes? How in the world does someone size up a leather jacket properly? Who's this JohnnyWorks guy and what's going on in his workshop? Is Ben actually turning into a suburban cowboy or is it all just a clever ruse? What are our favorite Aldens that are STILL our favorite Aldens?

And did we maybe, juuuuuuust maybe, get tassel loafers all wrong?

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

When I met Emily Boksenbaum at our Maker’s Day 2025 conference in Chicago, I knew I had to get her on the Shoecast.

Emily’s always made stuff. First it was art growing up, which led to a focus on fiber material studies in art school. Next came leather tooling, prop-making and other “creative odd jobs,” before going into corporate footwear design. That didn’t quite hit for her, which meant it was finally time to figure out how to make some cowboy boots. After training under some of the great makers and teachers in the space, she moved to Boulder, Colorado to open a custom boot shop dubbed Underhill Leather out of her garage, which she shares with one of our favorite former Shoecast guests, fellow cowboy bootmaker Holly Henry.

This one goes ALL sorts of places, as Emily gets deep into navigating different materials, machinery, and mindsets; the emotional and dare we say metaphysical layers of creation; that time she woke up to flood of DMs from eager customers thanks to a bass guitarist who loved her boots; and what it means to be a maker in a world that’s forgotten how to make things.

Oh and Zagnuts! Of course we got into Zagnuts.

Here’s Emily Boksenbaum, on the Shoecast

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

Justin FitzPatrick aka the Shoe Snob on fiery times in the comments section, what a dress shoe customer even looks like in 2026, button boots (obviously), and why it’s never been harder to start a shoe brand than right now. 

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/

In November 2025, we did a thing. Stitchdown’s Boot Camp 2025 Chicago was a quality footwear mega-expo, a materials trade show, a crossroads of the industry we love, and one big ol’ multi-day party with my favorite community in the world. 

As part of that weekend in Chicago, I sat down with Shuyler Mowe of Nicks Boots and the one and only Skip Horween for a live Shoecast taping at the excellent Hoste distillery. 

Skip and Shuyler are both multi-generational leaders in their spaces, and getting them to open up about how they work together to develop products, challenges the overlapping industries are facing, and some fun stories from the tannery was about as enjoyable as way to spend a night as I could imagine. So here’s our chat, with some attendees questions as the end. 

Also! We’re coming back to Chicago in 2026! Mark your calendar for November 6th and 7th for Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the same event but EVEN BETTER with a slight rebrand thrown in—at Artifact Events. Can’t wait to see you there. 

Here’s Skip and Shuyler, on the Shoecast. 

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/

Support the Shoecast, get full bonus episode access, 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/

We'd better see you at Stitchdown Chicago 2026—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—Nov 6-7 at Artifact Events.

https://www.stitchdownexpo.com/

A website. We have one.
https://www.stitchdown.com/