YOSHI HANDMADE ONE BY ONE

As you might know or nit, I'm a sucker for bandanas not that I am wearing them oft but I whenever I see a beauty I have to buy it and stack it in my closet. But these are different those necklaces and bracelets are also wearable if you are not in a denim mood.

Handmade in Italy by Yoshi

CHAD'S VISIT TO SANBORN CANOE CO., WINONA MN.

The postman not always has to rings twice! Yesterday he delivered my goodies from Sanborn Canoe Co.  Not only I'm happy to receive the goodies I ordered but it also reminds me to my visit to the workshop in Winona, MN. It was mid May and I took a road trip from Minneapolis to Winona through the rolling hills with farms on your left and right hand side. When I arrived in the small village of Winona I passed by the workshop several times because there was no sign of Sanborn on the building. When I entered the workshop I was welcomed by Abbey and Todd.

Todd took me on a guided tour through every stage of building a paddle from selecting the wood to the painting by hand of the graphics. Todd and his buddy Zak started Sanborn Canoe as a summer project inspired by the lakes and outdoors of Minnesota and the stories of Grandpa making paddles and canoes in the 60s. In the Fall of 2012 the launched their Artisan Painted Paddle line. Inspired, by when the voyageurs travelled the landscape of the new world by canoe, trading and carving out a new culture all their own.

In the Spring of 2016 Todd & Zak bought Merrimack Canoes a company which builds canoes since 1954 and are now proudly build in Winona in the same way as they started in Merrimack, NH

After the tour I had to play darts, this is becoming a tradition within the company, every visitor has to play darts and the score is put on the wall.

I want to thank Todd and the company for their hospitality and wish them save paddles.

GREVE SHOES SINCE 1898

Stitching a mocassin

Preparing the lasts for a custom made pair of shoes

Leather apron worn by the master shoemakers

Calf-skin from the Alps

Tools and patterns

Wooden lasts

The famous Mohawk mocasins

Crocodile leather Greve Shoes

A portrait of the Founding Father Hermanus Greve

On the outskirts of Waalwijk, once the shoe capital of Holland, you'll find the shoe factory of Greve.

Hermanus Greve opened here his shoemaker's shop in1898. His workshop had only one goal: To make the Netherlands’ most stylish and superior shoes. Greve therefore always remained one of the smaller workshops in Langstraat, yet simultaneously the most exclusive. Today’s firm is still very much reminiscent of its rich history. The family business is currently run by one of the fourth generation of Greves, Jos Jan Greve.

At this very moment there are still 6 master shoemakers working at the Greve Factory in Waalwijk. I had the pleasure to meet 2 of them, both working for the brand as long as 30 years.

They told me there was a time in the 80s that the Mohawk moccasin had a delivery time of 9 months, because of it's popularity. 

Today, they make your custom made shoes, It starts with a visit to the workshop in Waalwijk, where they will measure your feet and produce a last which perfectly matches your foot and your personal preferences. You have a choice of numerous Greve models, types of leather, lining, finishes and personal touches, up to and including embellishing the shoes with your initials. Your custom-made shoes are then manufactured entirely by hand.