London
Made by:
Checkland Kindleysides
Cheaney’s shoes are a rare thing; wholly made in England from
start to finish. It’s a traditional manufacturing industry of which
there are very few left, and many of its team of 140 craftspeople have
long held family connections with the business. But while so many
heritage brands play on the old-world feel of craftsmanship and dusty
Dickensian workshops, Cheaney enlisted contemporary design consultants
Checkland Kindleysides to take a more honest approach in their concept
for the store.
The interior doesn’t romanticise the shoemaking process with fake
nostalgia, instead it mimics the real-life factory of today. From the
corian pegboard to the 1:100 scale model of the factory, the entire
store is an exploded and layered display of how Cheaney & Sons make
their shoes in a true-to-life, polished up, modern and contemporary
setting.
Perhaps I’ve just been peddled the dark and dusty workshop look and feel
too many times before, because the design of the new store feels fresh
and energising. It tells a fascinating story of how the shoes are made
without being patronising. The intelligent (never gimmicky) use of
materials and a lightness of touch in the design speaks to a more
youthful, maverick clientele without alienating Cheaney’s traditional
and longstanding customers.
When Cheaney approached the designers, they talked proudly about the
company’s history. “But more than this, it was evident that the shoes
and boots they make have a broad appeal across all age groups and
tastes, appealing to people who love quality and craft but also
individual expression and enduring style,” says Checkland Kindleysides
co-founder Jeff Kindleysides.
“We felt we needed to create a store that departed from the
perception of handmade English shoes being trapped in a place that was
heritage, tradition and bygone, expressed in shops of dark wood and
brown leather. We thought that for Cheaney to stand out in Jermyn Street
our design should be light and be centred on the message of 'Made in
England'. This for us is where the premium lies. This is why we built a
store that says 'we still make our shoes in our factory in
Northamptonshire'.”
The store is divided into two distinct areas. The front half – with its
white painted brickwork, panelled ceiling and metal framed screens with
reeded glass – echoes the factory itself. The rear is designed to feel
like the boardroom area, with portraits of the founders Joseph Cheaney
and his son Arthur removed from their gilded frames and hung in Perspex
boxes, for a touch of Tate Modern cool.
This is where customers are served and fitted with their shoes, and the
back wall provides additional displays of shoes and tools, leather
sample finishes and details. Next to this, Joseph Cheaney’s most premium
range of shoes is presented in a glazed cabinet behind locked sliding
walnut-framed doors.
Describing the wall of old wooden shoe lasts right at the back of the
store, Kindleysides says they wanted to celebrate this iconic symbol of
the shoe maker's trade. “It immediately strips the story back to the
starting point. From the outset we wanted to feature the lasts, each
pair is an original from Cheaney's archive and each has a story to tell.
They're all date stamped and they say a lot about the company's lineage
as do the portraits of the company's founders.”
They say that to really know someone you have to walk a mile in their
shoes. Checkland Kindelysides have done that for us with Joseph Cheaney
& Sons, but their efforts are so successful they’ve created a store
that makes you want to do the journey for yourself.
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London, Luxury Shoes, Shoemaking Process, Corian Pegboard, Checkland
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