Indian image Church's Shoe Factory St James

Church's is a high-end

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

manufacturer that was founded in 1873, by Thomas Church, in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, England. In 1999 the company came under the control of Italian luxury fashion house

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

in a US$170 million deal.

History

Between the two world wars, Church's became actively involved in the development of the footwear industry in general. In 1919, the British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association was created with Church's as a founder-member. As a result of this partnership, the Northampton Technical College was established in 1925. This went on to become the

University of Northampton , mottoeng = Let us not be ignorant , established = 2005 (gained University status) 1975 (Nene College established) , type = Public , endowment = £0.95 m (2015) , chancellor = Richard Coles , vice_chancellor = ...

in 2005. The

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

was taken over by

in 1999, in a US$170 million deal, and has since expanded its outlets overseas. In 2014 the company employed 650 people. The same year, Church's took over adjacent premises in St James Road, formerly a tram and later a bus depot, in anticipation of further expansion which was expected to create up to 140 more jobs. Some have criticized Prada's management of Church's, citing a shift towards a fashion company moving away from traditional designs and workmanship resulting in gradual decrease of quality. In 2016, the Company appointed a new CEO. Despite the openings of new luxury boutiques and the uplift of retail price, Church & Co reported losses and reduced the workforce in its plant in Northampton.

Location

Its main installations are located in the St James area of

, with an estimated production capacity of 5,000 pairs per week, 70% of which are exported all over the world. Besides products sold to resellers and individual customers, the company also has several of its own

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

stores, including ones in Jermyn Street, London,

George Street, Edinburgh George Street is the central thoroughfare of the First New Town, Edinburgh, New Town of Edinburgh, planned in the 18th century by James Craig (architect), James Craig. The street takes its name from George III of the United Kingdom, King Geor ...

, Pacific Place, Hong Kong, and County Arcade, Leeds. In 2014 it had 50 stores across central and northern Europe, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Japan.

Notable customers

British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

had a "lucky pair" of Church's black 310

brogues The brogue (derived from the Gaeilge (Irish), and the Gaelic ( Scottish) for "shoe") is a style of low-heeled shoe or boot traditionally characterised by multiple-piece, sturdy leather uppers with decorative perforations (or "broguing") and s ...

, which he wore to every session of

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

for ten years. During

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

's tenure as

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, various selections of dress shoes from the Church's range were used in production.

Lindy Hemming Lindy Hemming (born 21 August 1948) is a Welsh costume designer, who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the 1999 film ''Topsy-Turvy''. Hemming's name is an example of an aptronym. Career After she studied at the Royal Academy of ...

, who was the costume designer, explained the choice of Church's shoes as having the appropriate weight to complement the silhouette of the tailored Brioni suits she had commissioned for Bond."James Bond's shoes auction"
''Northampton Chronicle'' 4 November 2007 Mr Bean (portrayed by

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

) wore a pair of black Church's shoes on the TV show and in the films.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.church-footwear.com/ 1873 establishments in England Manufacturing companies based in Northampton Companies established in 1873 English brands Luxury brands Privately held companies of England Shoe brands Shoe companies of the United Kingdom Prada