Q: You’ve been making boots for 8 years now, what brought you into bootmaking and what’s kept you at it?
A: The Philippines has a long history of shoemaking, with the influence from the Spanish and Americans who occupied the country. Shoe production later faced decline in 1970s due to cheap imports, natural disasters and competition thus shoe manufacturers opted to produce cheaper / low quality shoes to sustain their business. At first shoe restoration was just my side hustle because I had a day job but passion has led me to learn shoemaking. During the pandemic, an opportunity came when a friend who is a grandchild of the founder of first shoe factory in the Philippines sold me some of their decade old equipment. That's when we start producing our boots.
Q: Can you talk us through a regular day in the shop? What does your schedule look like?
A: We have a happy environment at the shop, our older employees has also brought in their brothers and sons to work with us. Its more like home for them. We had lunch together, listen to one radio station all day. Everyone gets different tasks.
Q: You mentioned that you’re about ready to start expanding, what does that involve?
A: Because demand for handcrafted boots has soared, for us to accommodate clients overseas, we are planning to increase production without sacrificing the quality of our boots. To do that, we are currently training experienced shoemakers to align with our process and traditions.
Q: Do you have a personal favorite style of boot, whether to wear or to make? A favorite leather?
A: My personal favorite is our Boondocker boot. They were issued to the US Marine Corps and the Navy during the pacific war and because of its comfort and durability in the tropical/mountain terrain, the troops named them "Boondocks" or Bundok as what locals call them. By design, Boondockers are versatile, comfortable to wear because of its rounded, unstructured toe and snug waist. I prefer to have them in horse butt leather because of its unique character and patina.
Q: Is there anything you’d want to tell the overseas audience?
A: Here at Willie's Handmade Boots, we choose the best materials we can find, stick to the old tradition of handwelting. Boots are individually crafted from pattern making, cutting, stitching and handlasting to ensure you get high quality durable footwear. You may find us as "Willie's Handmade Boots" Instagram and Facebook.