John Lobb Bootmaker

John Lobb Bootmaker is a company that manufactures and retails a luxury brand of shoes and boots mainly for men, but also for women. Leather goods such as wallets and belts are also available. John Lobb Bootmaker has been in business since 1866 in London and 1902 in Paris.

In 1976, John Lobb was acquired by the Hermès Group, but the London bespoke workshop at 9 St James's Street, John Lobb Ltd, remains family-owned and continues to operate independently. The company continues to maintain its bespoke shoe-making tradition in Paris, while also retaining core bespoke principles in the manufacture of its expanding ready-to-wear collection of shoes and leather goods.

History

In the middle of the 19th century, a farmer’s son, crippled as the result of an accident, made his way on foot from Cornwall to London. He was apprenticed to Tomas, the greatest bootmaker in London, unaware, as yet, that in time he would found the most prestigious dynasty of bootmakers in the world. Once he had finished his apprenticeship, he set off for Australia, at the time of the gold rush, where he supplied gold prospectors with boots with hollow heels, a safe cache for gold nuggets. Some years later, he was awarded a gold medal at the London universal Exhibition, whereupon in 1863 he sent a pair of boots to the Prince of Wales, who was impressed by the workmanship that he promptly appointed him his personal supplier.