How our shoes come to life

"We select our craftsmen for their precious know-how and the high quality of their work."

The design

It’s in our Parisian workshop that our Little Hands are active, always in search of new inspirations.

From a shape, a colour palette, a pattern, or a personality, we are constantly thinking new designs up. Our groundbreaking lines guide us through a modern and urban universe but always seeking the outdoors.
Our first sketches and drawings are based on this inspiration. These are then passed on to our technical office, which must, to the best of its ability, transform these drawings into shoes. Pattern cutting is a crucial step. It will guarantee the perfect aesthetics and optimal comfort of the shoe.

Understand, step by step

How our shoes come to life

First step

The design

Second step

Pattern cutting

Next, the pattern cutting, i. e. the cut-outs and yokes, must be worked on. This step is decisive for the elegance and overall look of the shoe.

Our cut-outs are the object of an in-depth study and numerous drawings. The pattern is then unique and convincing while remaining as simple and elegant as possible.

At this stage, we add all the details that will make the difference both visually and technically (eyelets, types of seams, comfort sole, buttresses, or reinforcement points...)

Third step

The selection of leathers

Let's come to the most delicate part!
We went directly to Italy to rigorously select the best cowhides for smooth leathers and the softest suede calf leathers. We have chosen all our skins for their flexibility and resistance to guarantee our shoe finesse, comfort, and durability. For classic skins, we work exclusively with very natural, full-grain cowhides. These items have been tanned in an environmentally and material friendly way. For more atypical leathers, we systematically choose a skin with character, whose characteristics surprise us and nature impresses us.

Our Mahogany Pull-up leather is an excellent example of this.

Crucial step

The assembly

The manufacturing process, fully-hand-made, from stitching to assembly, is carried out in the region of Porto, the European shoe capital.

First of all, the chief-cutter selects the best parts of the skins and cuts with the help of punches, the pieces of leather that will later be transformed into shoes.

Then, the puncture will come to assemble the various elements of the stem between them. Skins, linings, buttresses and hard ends, eyelets, or elastics... Finally, once the rods are ready, let’s go for assembly!

We use a series of ovens at different temperatures that will cause the leather to successively stretch and then firm up to come to fit perfectly the curves of the shape.

Finally, the sole will be glued, hot-welded, then sewn to the shoe, and finally delicately positioned in our pretty Pied de Biche boxes!

Our quality standards are very high, and each pair produced by our craftsmen undergoes a drastic quality control process.

Logistics

No middleman between you and us!

As soon as our craftsmen have completed a collection manufacturing cycle, all the Pied de Biche shoes are shipped to our logistics centre, located in the Paris suburbs. From there, your orders are carefully packed and sent straight on to your home.

Part of the collections is delivered to our Parisian stores located 5 rue Commines (75003) and 9 rue des Abbesses Pied de Biche (75018), in our Bordeaux store at 80 rue du Pas-Saint-Georges (33000) or in our Lyon store at 36 rue du Président Edouard Herriot (69001). Stop by and come see our teams, who will be happy to welcome you every day of the week!

Supported by the Ile-de-France Region

The Ile-de-France Region supports Pied de Biche and its artisans.