Two and a half years into its existence, Artisan Boot & Shoe—which sprung forth following the Batavia, New York P.W. Minor factory's unfortunate demise—is showing signs that while American footwear manufacturing might not be what it was decades ago, it's definitely got a fighting chance to show new growth alongside the Pacific Northwest and and Maine-based stalwarts we love over here at Stitchdown.
Artisan's owner Nicole Porter has shepherded the operation's emergence, manufacturing for Stitchdown favorite Parkhurst and Wolverine, and seeing an interesting influx of new brand partners especially over the last year. This episode, Ben and Ticho from from Stitchdown.com talk to Nicole about how the whole P.W. Minor thing went down, how she constructed Artisan, her outlook on the broader US shoe manufacturing industry, and the challenges she faces being a woman in a male-dominated space.
It's an important and fascinating conversation, and an extremely fun one despite some very real moments. Also we eat a lot of Oliver's sponge candy, which is also very important.
This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, where you don't NEED an engineering degree to buy their engineer boots...but it helps.
Theme music: The Road by Punk Rock Opera