Shoe School

Hi, I'm Lou - I'm a shoemaker and teacher based in Wellington, New Zealand. I first began making shoes in Dunedin 10 years ago. I couldn’t find work and decided this was my chance to learn shoemaking - something I’ve been curious about since a teen, obsessively saving for my 1st pair of Doc Martens. 10 years ago it wasn't possible to study shoemaking in NZ, so with nothing to lose I sold some of my belongings and travelled to Australia to train. I was absolutely determined to set up a studio of my own, so I launched a small business making baby shoes (a simple place to start!) and used the profits to buy antique shoemaking equipment. In 2015 and again in 2017 I was invited to intern in Tokyo with a Master shoemaker. I've been extremely fortunate in my quest to learn shoemaking but couldn't have done it without some solid day dreaming. I launched Shoe School in November 2015 and since then have helped students create hundreds of shoes of their own design.