The Boot and Shoe Trades in London and Paris in the Long Eighteenth Century

These changes rendered more difficult the penetration of French products
into the London market. Parisian producers understood that their direct
presence on the British market was necessary to maintain a competitive
advantage and to continue in a profitable relationship with their overseas
customers. In 1830 Lehocq, who was one of the most important shoemakers in
Paris opened a shop in London, followed by other Frenchmen, among whom
were the famous Bellamy (1832), Concanon (1838), Melnotte (1838), Paul
Hase (1838), Petit (1838), Violette (1845), Chantaume (1845), Hubert (1845),
Nardin (1845), Pollon (1845), Soyée (1845) . 84 Surviving artifacts are important
because of the wide range of producers' labels they carry. They show the
penetration of the higher part of the French market into the London shoe
market during the 1830s. One such case is Viault Esté, one of the most famous
Parisian shoemakers. He never opened a shop in London but preferred to sell
his shoes through another Frenchman. Labels report how they were products of
"Viault Esté, rue de Ia Paix, Paris and distributed by Thierry & Son of Regent
Street, London" (illustration 6.6).
By the 1850s French competition was declining. French producers operated
directly in a London market that had become essentially a retailing market. The
style was changing again: light satin shoes gave way to the new side-laced
boots and shoes with buttons, spring boots and the new gutta-percha shoes.85
Boots and shoes were becoming more standardised in style and shape allowing
the beginning of mechanisation in the sector and US domination of the market
during the second half of the century.86
Various directories, 1825-50.
85 G.B. Sutton, 'The marketing of ready made footwear in the nineteenth century. A study of
the firm of C. & J. Clark', Business History, VI -2 (1962), pp. 93-7.
P. Head, 'Boots and Shoes', in D.H. Aldcroft, ed., The development of British industry and
foreign competition 1875-1914 (London, 1968), pp. 158-185; R.A. Church, 'Labour Supply
and Innovation 1800-1860: the Boot and Shoe Industry', Business History, XII - 1 (1970), pp.
23-45.
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