A review of 30 years of shoe making
On February 20. 2024, I was very honored to host a presentation by René van den Berg at my shop in Union Station.
René shared photos, shoes, patterns, uppers, and books on his work. He spoke about his process of making patterns, how his career developed, personal inspirations and so many other things.
I first saw the shoe featured in this post – Terminus Est – in 2005 at the house of Ginus Nusteling, where I took my first Dutch shoemaking workshop. René made those shoes for Ginus’s wife Verena. Ginus introduced me to René during that visit and I have been fortunate to get to know him over the years. René has allowed me to sit in on his classes and has been very generous with his time answer my various questions. He helped me so much in my career and is a big influence on the way I make shoes. It was such a pleasure to introduce him to people I know so that they too could experience first hand his creativity and generous spirit.