We did, and it changed our point of view. Before founding Beckett Simonon in 2011 we had a leather goods brand which was sold in retail stores. It taught us how to work with this noble material and also revealed an ugly truth: the traditional retail system is broken.

We experienced first-hand how retailers priced our products at 8 to 10 times our manufacturing cost. We designed and produced these goods, yet couldn’t afford them as consumers. We discovered something else…

Retailers know a large percentage of the shoes, clothes and accessories offered in stores will not sell. So, what they do sell needs to support the entire operation.

This system affects not only the prices you pay, but also the producers and the planet. There's a lot of waste, plus the quest for high profit margins usually comes at the expense of factory workers’ dignity and safety.

This makes no sense to us.

We believe in the power of well-made products which make you look and feel your best, even if you just want to take a walk. Products you can wear year after year, and repair rather than replace.

But what’s the point of believing this if high prices make such products available to just a few?

Our experience with traditional retail inspired us to create an innovative way to tackle the problem. One that would benefit the producer, the artisans, the planet, and you.

Our wishlist wasn’t unreasonable. We only wanted to offer you high quality, responsible manufacturing, unrivaled prices, and an excellent customer experience. Not too much to ask for, right?

The solution was rather simple: manage all aspects of production instead of sourcing from third parties, craft products to order instead of keeping inventory, and sell online only instead of wholesaling to retail stores.

We hope you enjoy wearing your Beckett Simonon shoes as much as we do crafting them.

Yours truly,