Extraordinary Maker: shoemaker Eiichi Katsukawa
Allow us to introduce you to shoemaker Eiichi Katsukawa. Following a degree in shoe design and an apprenticeship in the UK, he launched an award-winning shoe brand in his native Japan. In this inspiring video, we see our extraordinary maker create his shoes from scratch at his workshop in the busy metropolitan city of Tokyo. He’s using a type of reversed cowhide leather, which he discovered himself and has called ‘nibe leather’. Eiichi is extremely passionate about his work and highly skilled to boot, dedicating his whole life to his craft.
From trendy trainers to classic brogues, Eiichi Katsukawa’s creations are steeped in nature. Not only is each piece of leather he uses a unique natural product, he also finds inspiration for new shoe designs in nature. The way he sees it, our shoes are the closest link we have to the earth – we walk in them every day and they accompany us on our path through life. To give something back to nature and offer a lifelong link between man and shoe, he offers his customers a lifetime guarantee on the products in his ‘The Shoe of Life’ shop. Using techniques like sewing, grinding and sanding, he repairs his shoes with the same commitment and craftsmanship with which he created them.