Ep. 31 - Jim McCormack, about life as a freelance bespoke shoemaker

About this episode

Jim McCormack shares his experiences and insights from over five decades as a freelance bespoke shoemaker in England.

For this episode I met up with Jim McCormack, a legendary bespoke shoemaker in England, who has spent over five decades in the trade. For more or less all of these years, he has worked as an outworker, doing bottom making for many different firms. England is the country in the world where the outworker system is the most extended. We talk a lot about the freelance system, how it works, the pros and cons and so on. But before that we cover Jim McCormack's own journey into the shoemaking world, hear stories from for exampleJohn Lobb back in the 70's, go through the different stages of the bespoke shoemaking scene in the UK the past 50 years, and much more.

People in this episode

Guest: Jim McCormack

Topics covered

• bespoke shoemaking
• freelance work
• outworker system
• shoemaking history

Keywords

• shoemaker
• England
• John Lobb
• freelance system

Mentioned in this episode

Products: John Lobb

Places: England, UK

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