Shows / The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Everything you love about the Stitchdown Shoecast—now with extra bonus episodes only for community members.
Episodes
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Chicago School of Shoemaking Founder Sara McIntosh Has Made 10,000 Pairs of Shoes
This week on the Shoecast it's Sarah McIntosh, founder of the Chicago School of Shoemaking and Leather Arts, who has lived a life shaped by making things by…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Everything You Never Knew About Alligator Leather, With AMTAN's Christy Gilmore
Alligator leather. It's bold. It's fancy. It's expensive. It’s also the result of, and driving force behind, a massive conservation effort—and one of the…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
A Highly Metaphysical Shoebag w/ Ticho + Stitchdown Expo 2026 Preview
Ticho hath returned for the Season 19 Shoebag episode, in which we answer listener questions ranging from shoe-related time travel, to the upsides and downs of…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How Thiele Tanning's Jordan Proefrock Makes the World's Best Shoe Lining Leather
Thiele Tanning has operated out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin since 1934. And while things rarely stay the same in tanning—Thiele has made everything from bowling…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Lennertson's Robin Carlo on Springline Last Development and Transformer Loafers
It wasn’t always easy for two Belgian guys named Robin to build a shoe brand. Early production setbacks, finding investment, and eventually building a physical…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Custom Cowboy Bootmaker Lee Miller of Texas Traditions
There are custom bootmakers—and then there's Texas Traditions. Opened in 1977 by “The Picasso of cowboy boots” Charlie Dunn, Texas Traditions has been run by…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Edgy Albert on Which Shoes are Good and Not Good—and a Tribute to Denim Legend Roy Slaper
If you know Albert Muzquiz, it’s almost definitely as Edgy Albert, his highly accurate internet alter-ego. Albert’s not just another menswearfluencer…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Keeping Maine Shoemaking Alive: The Rancourt & Co. Story
At one point, it was tough to find someone in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine that wasn't personally connected to the handsewn moccasin shoe industry. Today, few Maine…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How Can Wolverine Revive its Iconic 1000 Mile Brand? Justin Cupps Has Ideas.
Wolverine Worldwide is a footwear empire much bigger than just Wolverine 1000 Mile. Justin Cupps is six months into his role as President of the Work Group…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
The (Mostly) Complete History of Cowboy Boots, with Bata Shoe Museum Director Elizabeth Semmelhack
Last time Elizabeth Semmelhack—Director and Senior Curator of the Toronto's exceptional Bata Shoe Museum—was on the Shoecast, she ran down a (mostly) complete…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
ACL's Michael Williams on Misguided Shoe Recs & The "Disappearing Middle" of Quality Footwear
Michael Williams is sometimes a “marketer who hates marketing,” who has helped many of the great US manufacturing brands, up to and including Red Wing. Other…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Carmina Shoemaker's Carmina Albaladejo on Family Tradition, Global Retail, and Custom Shoes
Carmina Albaladejo heads US operations for the exquisite Spanish shoemaker with the exact same (first) name as her. In this Stitchdown Shoecast episode we…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
The New Thing in Footwear Leather? 145-Year-Old Veg-Tanner Hermann Oak.
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: How To Get Nathan Florsheim to Make You Boots? Nathan Florsheim Will Now Tell You.
It's extremely not easy to get boots hand-made by Nathan Florsheim—great great great grandson of Milton Florsheim, yes, THAT Florsheim—unless of course you…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Nathan Florsheim is Proudly Working Slower Than Ever
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: Anne Marika Verploegh Chassé on Packing Tape Shoes and Broadway
Hey! Ben from Stitchdown here. This past season on the Shoecast I sat down wit with Brooklyn based bespoke shoemaker Anne Marika Verploegh Chassé. Marika’s a…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Goods & Services' Rory Fortune on Red Wing Collabs and When to Pull Back on Customization
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Bespoke Cowboy Bootmaker Zephan Parker's Formula to Keep Craft Alive
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
The Artistically Twisting Journey of Brooklyn's Bespoke Shoemaker, Anne Marika Verploegh Chassé
My chat this week is with Brooklyn -based bespoke shoemaker, educator, and artist Anne Marika Verploegh Chassé, aka STIEFELwerk. Two decades ago, Marika came…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Vintage Boot Wishlists and Reconsidering Tassel Loafers: It's Ticho on the Shoebag!
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Why Making Things By Hand Has Never Been More Important, w/ Cowboy Bootmaker Emily Boksenbaum
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Why It’s Harder Than Ever to Start a Shoe Brand, w/ the Shoe Snob Justin FitzPatrick
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Skip Horween & Nicks Boots' Shuyler Mowe—Live from Boot Camp Chicago 2025
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…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Franklin & Poe's Andrew Li on Where Retail's Going, Malls, and The Perfect White Tee
My chat this week is with Andrew Li of Philadelphia’s Franklin & Poe, one of the best shops in the US for serious quality footwear, denim, and more. I got to…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Thursday Boot Co.'s Nolan Walsh on Their Own León Factory, Last Obsessiveness, and The Comfort Question
The joke has always been that Thursday Boot Company’s Connor Wilson keeps his co-founder Nolan Walsh trapped in a factory working on the product. Turns out…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Shoebag w/ Ticho: The Best Shoemaking Teachers, Arch Support, and a LOT of Butter
If you came to this podcast about shoes and boots and leather hoping that you’d get to listen to extended conversations about imported cultured butter, you’ve…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How to Revive The Cobbling Industry? Teach it in High School—and it's Already Working.
This past fall, Matt Paisley launched a shoe repair program at Colorado's Thunder Ridge high school, with nearly two dozen students taking the plunge and…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
SERES Founder Vanessa Arroyo on León, Mexico's Remarkable Shoemaking Culture
My chat this week is with Vanessa Arroyo, founder and designer of SERES Footwear, a focused line designed from the ground up with high-quality natural…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Sprezza's Clayton Chambers on Timeless Loafers, Gorpy Boots, and Quality
This week on the Shoecast our chat is with Clayton Chambers, founder of the Substack newsletter Sprezza and general menswear individual about the world. After…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Ticho is BACK to Talk Østmo x Iron Boots' Lore—and Next Step
The one and only Tichoblanco, aka Tichoblancoshoes, aka just plain old Ticho, is BACK. Where’s he been?Well he’ll tell ya all about that. What’s he been up to?…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Boot Camp 2025 Chicago: Exhibitors + Events Rundown
In part two of a tag-team with the Full Grain Podcast, the ever-handsome/charming Phil Kalas grills Ben on what to expect at Stitchdown's Boot Camp Chicago…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Brett Viberg Community Q&A at the Viberg NYC Shop
Last week we had our Stitchdown community's first gathering at the new Viberg NYC store—an honestly fabulous-looking little shop in Manhattan’s Nolita…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: A Look Inside China with Motiv & Arch Support Project's Samuel Wei
Jason Pecarich of Division Road and Motiv/Arch Support Project co-founder Samuel Wei came on to discuss ASP's legitimately unique approach to footwear, how…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How Japan's Astounding Bootmaking Culture Grew—And Where It's Going
It’s not a stretch to say there is no quality footwear culture quite like Japan’s. But WHY does the Japanese passion for making and wearing great boot and…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: How to Clean, Condition, and Polish Shell Cordovan Shoes and Boots
Shell cordovan! That most hallowed of footwear leathers—and one of the most worried-about when it comes to care. But it shouldn't be, according to Pure…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How to Do YouTube Product Reviews Without Losing Your Soul, with The Iron Snail
The Iron Snail, aka Michael Kristy, is one of my favorite YouTube inhabitants, thanks to his legitimately unique approach to reviewing, historicizing, and…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Developing Leather for Red Wing and More with SB Foot's Lacy Schumann
Since 1986, SB Foot Tanning Company is most known as the tannery owned by Red Wing, and with good reason: every bit of leather used on Red Wing Heritage…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: Shop Talk with Horween's John Culliton and Grant Stone Founder Wyatt Gilmore
Horween Leather Co. and The Tannery Row everything-man John Culliton and Grant Stone founder Wyatt Gilmore stopped by the Shoecast for another bonus Shop Talk…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Custom Cowboy Bootmaker Jake Houston on Preserving Knowledge, León Mexico, and Zebra Races
About a half hour from Reno, there’s a place called Virginia City Nevada, where everything feels like it’s 1859 and the US’s largest silver deposit was just…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Seiji McCarthy is Making Some of the World's Greatest American Bespoke Shoes—In Japan
Tokyo-based, half-American/half-Japanese Seiji McCarthy discusses his uniquely late path into shoemaking, the development of his vintage-Americana-inspired…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Is Turriff Functional Footwear Making the Best-Quality Barefoot Shoe on the Market?
This week we've got a chat with Andrew Turriff, a Canadian shoemaker who studied at Cordwainer’s Footwear Design program in London, worked for some big sneaker…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How Tariffs Are Already Impacting the Footwear Industry, with FDRA CEO Matt Priest
Matt Priest, President and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, came on the Shoecast the morning after 104% tariffs on Chinese goods into…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: Derek Guy... Returns!
After a half decade of relentlessly shaming him into it, last month we finally had Derek Guy on the Shoecast—you know, Menswear Guy from Twitter, the style…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS: Shoe Care Listener Q&A w/ Pure Polish's Andy Vaughn
Andy is BACK for a Shoecast bonus episode—to field listener questions and let us all know how to tell when's the right time to condition leather shoes (and why…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
Skateboarding Legend Jamie Thomas Is Here To Cook Your Shoes in a 300° Oven
Jamie Thomas is one of the most revered skateboarders of all time—and also a footwear designer and serial skate shoe brand founder. The release of his latest…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
How to Make Your Leather Footwear Last Literally (Possibly) Forever, With Pure Polish's Andy Vaughn
The idea that well-made, resoable footwear can last almost literally forever is one of its core allures—but it’s a promise that simply won’t come true if it’s…
- The Stitchdown PREMIUM Shoecast
BONUS Episode: Shop Talk With Brett Viberg & Shuyler Mowe of Nicks Boots
It's our first-ever BONUS Shoecast episode—in a brand new format called Shop Talk. The idea is simple: -1 moderator (Ben from Stitchdown) -2 guests—this time…