Guangzhou, Ray's Workshop, and Where Our Boots Go Next

Last time we settled the spec for the 3450 Horsebutt. This time we want to talk about where our engineer boots are going, and about the Guangzhou workshop that makes them.

What has not changed

What we had in mind when we started Brake House has not moved. Good leather goods, the ones that actually matter if motorcycling is part of how you live, at a price that makes sense. The weight sits on those two words: essential, and reasonable.

We decided the essential item was the engineer boot, so engineer boots are what we sell and what we keep expanding. And because the price has to make sense, we put the work in early, at the point where the product is made rather than after. Unless the identity of the brand changes, everything we do next will happen along those two lines.

Engineer boots are becoming objects

The first thing we want to try is a new engineer boot last.

More and more, engineer boots are becoming objects. The shape is no longer arriving purely from function, from a tool built to do a job. It is turning into something that is a pleasure to look at while you wear it, and a pleasure to look at when you are not wearing it at all, closer to a small sculpture sitting there.

You can see it in the boots getting the most attention right now. They use an aggressive toe to read sharp, almost dressy. What is interesting is that plenty of people enjoy those boots purely as photographs, with no intention of buying a pair.

A sharper last

So we sat down with Ray and agreed to develop a boot with a more aggressive shape than the 3450.

We think people like the 3450 because of how cleanly its line runs. The new last takes that further. From the side, the toe sits lower and flatter. From above, it runs sharper and more pointed, closer to a cowboy boot. The ball of the foot pulls in tighter, and the heel should show a small but full curve.

Why bother

We are still a very small operation next to the big boot brands, and the engineer boots we already sell could bring in plenty more customers on their own. Pushing harder on what we have would probably be the more efficient way to grow the business.

We are doing this anyway because we want Brake House to become a brand with a clearer colour of its own. Since starting it, I have been sharpening my own taste, or wandering my way toward it. As a brand that has only just set out, it is fair to say we are still hesitant about pushing our own preferences all the way. The first step will be awkward and short of what it should be. We would rather show you that process as it happens.

The workshop

We could try any of this so early only because we have Ray as a partner. The workshop that makes our boots is in Guangzhou.

Ray started more than ten years ago, running a small atelier there back when boot making on traditional heritage methods was rare in China. It has grown into a workshop that now collaborates with a range of brands beyond ours. Having him as a partner from the very first attempt at this brand was a serious piece of luck.

About ninety people work there today. Ray began with traditional shoemaking and has built it into a full heritage workshop: boots, but also clothing, denim, bags and accessories. When we met last week he mentioned he is busy with a women's denim commission for a well-known European brand. We would just like him to work without wrecking his health.

What keeps the quality up

Three things let that workshop turn out good work consistently.

• Craftspeople with twenty years or more behind them.
• Equipment that runs from original Goodyear welting machines to modern gear that cuts large volumes in a single pass.
• A line production method that lets those people and that equipment actually work together efficiently.

On top of that, the workshop holds direct partnerships with leading suppliers worldwide, which gives it a supply chain for good leather and other raw material.

But the real reason the quality holds is Ray himself: a restless curiosity, and an unwillingness to compromise on quality. He is always researching, either developing something new or improving something that already exists. The day before our meeting in Guangzhou, he was flying home from a trip spent touring factories abroad.

Brake House Boots x Ray Kwok Made

We have agreed to carry this collaboration forward under one name: Brake House Boots x Ray Kwok Made.

As we work out what a Brake House boot is, we want to show you more of what only our workshop can show, the development and the production, and to pull your opinions into that process far more actively. We would be grateful for your interest and your encouragement.

The spec we settled on this trip is written up in 3450 Maryam Horsebutt: Development Diary, Part 2.