Midas Bootmaker

As the first European retailer ever, we can offer Indonesian handmade workwear boots, this from the reputable brand Midas Bootmaker (the workwear brand of Winson Shoemaker). We're also one of the first retailers in the world who can offer Indonesian handmade boots as RTW, outside of its home country. The price on these, considering the quality and the level of craftsmanship, is simply amazing. We have a limited number of these boots in stock, occasionally we restock models but then on an even more limited basis, as we are also launching new models and manufacturing capacity is limited.

These are boots that are made to be worn hard, and will only look better and better with age.

What is the difference between hand welted and Goodyear welted?

The welt is the backbone of the shoe, holding the insole of the shoe together with the upper leather and the welt, the leather strip that runs around the side of the shoe and into which the sole seam is sewn in. On Goodyear welted shoes, a strip of canvas is glued to the insole, onto which a Goodyear machine then sews the welt. Hand welted shoes have a thicker insole into which a holdfast is carved, which the welt is sewn to. Sewing the welt by hand is rarer today, as it's an even more time-consuming construction method, and is mainly done among, for example, bespoke shoemakers and other specialists.

What does it mean that the shoes are made by hand?

Unlike much of the marketing of factory-made shoes (which includes Goodyear welted shoes), these shoes from Midas are indeed made entirely by hand (in addition to the machine-stitching of the uppers, which they do even on the most expensive bespoke shoes in the world). Midas boots are lasted by hand (when the uppers are pulled over the last), hand welted, have a hand-stitched sole seam despite being made with a rubber sole (!), and have the heel base built onto the shoe by hand. We also have a higher specification than regular Midas shoes, choosing real leather for both heel stiffener and toe stiffener, which moulds nicely to the foot and can be reshaped if necessary, made from the same type of vegetable tanned "shoulder" leather as the insoles.

Why are Indonesia so famous for their boots?

Indonesia is one of the world's foremost centres for the manufacture of workwear boots, a tradition that dates back to when the country was a Dutch colony, but which has evolved and been refined over the decades since the country gained independence in the 1940s. Uniquely, however, everything is still almost exclusively done by hand, not with machines like the pegging of shoes, Goodyear machines and McKay machines for sole stitching and so on, but with awl, needle, knife, hammer etc.

Despite the high level of craftsmanship and quality, prices are low by international standards, since the cost of living and therefore wages in Indonesia are relatively low, which has led to an explosion of global interest in Indonesian boots and shoes over the past few years. There are more than 20 different manufacturers of these types of boots, many clustered around the city of Bandung, which is a bit of their equivalent to, for example, Inca and Almansa in Spain, Northampton in England and Marche in Italy. In almost all cases, however, production is very small-scale.

How big is Midas workshop?

Midas / Winson is a small workshop of eight people that produces no more than about 30 pairs of shoes a month. The work is led by Emil Rahmana Putra, he founded Winson Shoemaker in 2014 in his garage, and set up a proper workshop of his own with employees in 2017. In the early years, the focus was on workwear boots, but interest in dressy handmade men's shoes grew quickly, and some focus shifted there. To streamline and make it clearer to customers, they then separated Winson for more dressy shoes and boots, and in 2021 started Midas Bootmaker for workwear boots and more casual shoes.