Freed of London Ltd, often referred to simply as ''Freed'', is a designer and manufacturer of
pointe shoes
A pointe shoe (, ), also called a ballet toe shoe or simply toe shoe, is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like an ...
and other dance shoes. The company additionally manufactures dance apparel, bridal, and fashion collections. Freed of London shoes are handcrafted in the UK and today the brand is available in over 50 countries. While Freed began in a basement in Covent Garden, it now comprises nine retail stores, seven offices, five warehouses, and three manufacturing sites.
[ ]
History
Freed of London was established in 1929 by
cobbler
Cobbler(s) may refer to:
*A person who Shoemaking, repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes
Places
* The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland
* Mount Cobbler, Australia
Art, entertainment and media
* The Cobbler (1923 ...
Frederick Freed, his wife, who worked as a milliner, and an assistant. Freed and his wife had both been previously employed by Gamba, a London-based dance shoe maker. After several years of work at Gamba, they decided to open workshop in the basement of a shop in
Covent Garden. Freed gained his first customer by putting up a sign that said they will make a shoe to fit a ballerina, not the ballerina having to fit the shoe. In 1934, production became too large for the store basement in
Covent Garden, and manufacturing was moved to a small factory in Endell street. In 1947, manufacturing was once again moved due to the increasing scale of production. Freed of London transitioned its headquarters to a larger factory on Mercer Street. It was during this time that Freed started to become the prestigious and well-known company that it continues to be today.
[ Frederick Freed retired in 1968 and the company was acquired by D H Sam Thomson Limited and Magdalan Shoes of Norwich. The three companies joined together and continued to operate as Freed of London.][ It was not until 1985 that Freed began manufacturing dance apparel. In 1993, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese apparel company Onward Kashiyama. The Freed corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities were retained after the acquisition and continue to operate at their original location in London.
Freed of London has continued to grow and expand in the past few decades. In 2012, Freed launched its first collection of Bridal shoes and opened a retail store in New York in collaboration with Chacott. A year later, in 2013, Freed released a line of ballet flats, the first instance in which the company created shoes not intended for dance purposes. In 2016, Freed of London became the first dancewear manufacturer to attain ISO accreditation. In October 2018, Freed of London became the first UK Company to create Pointe shoes for black, Asian and mixed race dancers, releasing two new Pointe shoe colours to their core collection: Ballet Brown & Ballet Bronze. These were developed for over a year with Ballet Black, a London-based Ballet company for dancers of black and Asian descent.][
]
Frederick Freed
Frederick Freed (born 1899 - d. before 1993) was a British shoemaker, the founder of Freed of London, the manufacturer of pointe shoe
A pointe shoe (, ), also called a ballet toe shoe or simply toe shoe, is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and ...
s and other dance shoes and apparel. Frederick Freed was born in the East End of London in 1899, the son of a sample shoemaker.
In 1929, Freed left Gamba, where he had been making ballet shoes, and opened a store and workshop in St Martin's Lane, employing his wife and an assistant. After a few years the business needed larger premises, and manufacturing was moved to a small factory in nearby Endell Street
Endell Street, originally known as Belton Street, is a street in London's West End that runs from High Holborn in the north to Long Acre and Bow Street, Covent Garden, in the south. A long tall narrow building on the west side is an 1840s-buil ...
.
Freed and his wife retired in 1968. His widow sold the company in 1993.
Manufacturing process
Every Freed pointe shoe is made by hand in the UK with a production based from the main factory in Hackney, East London. Two smaller production sites are based in Leicester and Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
.[
Freed pointe shoes are made using the traditional turn shoe method, with a "signature" peach-colored ]satin
A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...
. The toe box is constructed by gluing together hand-layered triangles of hessian and paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...
, using a proprietary, water-based glue. After the box is formed, pleats
A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference.
Pleats are cat ...
are formed in the satin that covers the shoe and secured with metal pincers. The shoe is then stitched and the sole is joined to the upper with wax thread. Next, the pointe shoe is turned right-side-out and the insole
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to ...
is inserted. Finally, the box, which is not yet dried, is hammered into its final shape.
Freed of London currently employs 26 shoemakers.[ Freed cobblers typically devote decades of their lives to handcrafting pointe shoes. Each shoemaker makes about 50 shoes a day, most of which are custom made for individual dancers who order 20 pairs at a time from a specific, preferred maker. A letter or symbol is stamped on the sole of custom-ordered shoes to indicate the cobbler who made them.]
Visibility
Freed supplies pointe shoes to most famous ballet companies in the world.[ These include ]The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...
, New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
, American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet
Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, ...
, Dutch National Ballet
The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands.
History
The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged.
The company h ...
, Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...
, and Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004.
The company consists of 49 dan ...
among others. Freed of London pointe shoes are worn by principal dancers worldwide including Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem (; born 23 February 1965) is a French ballet dancer. Guillem was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She has ...
, Tamara Rojo, Leanne Benjamin
Leanne Faye Benjamin (born 13 July 1964) is a retired Australian ballet dancer who was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.
Early life and training
Benjamin was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, to Jill and Bernie Benjamin. Be ...
, Nina Ananiashvili, and Alessandra Ferri
Alessandra Ferri OMRI (born 6 May 1963) is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before t ...
. The brand has also been featured on national UK television in both ''The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'' and '' Dancing on Ice''. Freed's items have appeared in the '' Harry Potter'' and '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' films in addition to ''Snow White and the Huntsman
''Snow White and the Huntsman'' is a 2012 American fantasy film based on the German fairy tale "Snow White" compiled by the Brothers Grimm. The directorial debut of Rupert Sanders, it was written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock and Hossein ...
''.[
]
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Shoe companies of the United Kingdom
Ballet in the United Kingdom
Pointe shoe manufacturers
Dancewear companies
Clothing companies of England
Clothing companies based in London
Clothing companies established in 1929
1929 establishments in England
British companies established in 1929