At Pied de Biche, we take particular pride in our artisans and their know-how. From their workshops in Portugal, they craft by hand what you wear on your feet.

In homage to all this craftsmanship, Clément, our production manager, offers you an inside look behind the scenes of a made-in-Porto production. Notably, the making of the Frisco V3, our leather sneakers for men and women, currently in prototyping ahead of their pre-order launch on March 17, 2021.

As Grandfather would say:
"When you're proud, there's no reason to stay silent!"

1. First, the store.

Sneakers without quality leather would be a bit like butter without salt or bread without jam: not much of anything.
"The store,” as we call it, is where all these beautiful leathers are stored.

2. A little cut

The leather, that’s settled.
Now, we need to cut the panels that make up our shoes. This step is reserved for the pattern maker who develops a template for each model. It’s meticulous work.
Thanks to this template and several cutting dies, we can precisely cut the leather with great care and attention to detail.

Oh! We almost forgot: it’s also on this cutting line that our famous Deer motifs are embossed onto your shoes!

3. The stitching line

Step 1

The vamp

Once cut, the pieces pass into the hands of the artisans responsible for the stitching line. They then assemble the vamp of your shoes.
The vamp is the all the leather panels that make up the shoe without the sole. Basically, that’s it 👉

Step 2

Fell stitching

On this line, we also join the vamp and lining.

Voila! With a flick of the wrist, our artisans make the seams disappear using the “turn-and-stitch” technique. Pretty impressive, right?

Step 3

Strobel sewing

The “Strobel stitch”, one of the key features of our leather sneakers. It is also crafted on this production line.
Its concept is simple: the upper and the first assembly are stitched together, point by point. This know-how ensures the longevity of your shoes, and that’s all we aim for (and you too, by the way).

We are almost there!

4. The assembly

The upper is in place, now it’s time to give it its shape. That’s definitely better.

For this, it is placed on a “last,” a kind of shoe stretcher whose shape is specific to each model and each size. We leave you to do the math for the number of “lasts” at Pied de Biche!
Thanks to pressure and the skilled hands of our artisans, the shoes then take on the desired shape.

Next, we prepare the sole of the shoe so that the outsole adheres perfectly and everything can fuse together, you see.

And then?

Afterward, we attach the sole to stitch it laterally so it doesn’t come off (a sole, precisely).

We then complete the finishing touches on the shoes and ship them to our boutiques and logistics center. From there, it’s up to them to find their happy owners!

Ta-da. The circle is complete.
Now you know everything.

At Pied de Biche, that’s how we make a pair of leather sneakers.