I met Tony Slinger when he contacted me to discuss offering his fully handcrafted bespoke shoe-making service to my Hemingway Tailor clientele.
He did this without any knowledge of my personal background of being born with club feet or the fact that I have always had to have bespoke shoes made especially for me.
I agreed to meet him, and although we got on really well, I insisted that he prove his skills by making me a pair of bespoke shoes, cheeky I know!
I thought that as he had been trained at W. H. Poole in Leeds (a well renowned orthopaedic shoe manufacturer) and if he could make me a well-fitting pair of shoes with my misshapen feet, he could easily provide the same service for some of Hemingway Tailors’ more discerning clients! (You can read more about Tony Slinger on LinkedIn.)
When I discovered my Made to Order bespoke shoe service supplier, I consequently started to think seriously of how I would go about offering a new and complementary service to all our current and future clients at Hemingway Tailors, which would also compliment my bespoke tailored clothing service.
I therefore decided to test them out by ordering a couple of pairs of shoes to check the quality of craftsmanship and materials and was instantly impressed with both the fit and workmanship for standard sized shoes.
However, as I know that I am not an expert in this field, so I obviously took them to show Tony Slinger to see whether he agreed with me.
As the Hemingway Tailors brand represents luxury tailored clothing, and our story of craftsmanship and attention to detail goes back a long way, it was particularly important to me that if I went ahead with a Made to Order shoe service, it would have to reflect our values and mission as a brand.
I need not have worried because Tony was just as impressed as I was with the high standard of craftsmanship and materials!
After consulting with Tony and hearing his favourable opinion of the supplier, I decided that I would run with them.
This supplier gave me the option to provide a Made to Order shoe service for everyone at almost bespoke quality and yet for far more affordable prices than totally bespoke shoes.
Tony was incredibly supportive and even agreed to add his name as a seal of approval to highlight the quality Hemingway Tailors’ clients could expect from the new Made to Order shoe service.
