Clover & Cobbler, owned by FIDM-Alumna, Jaclyn Jones, recently invited students in FIDM’s Footwear Design & Development Program to tour our footwear factory in Van Nuys. The students toured the leather library, the last library, and the sample room where all the prototypes are made. The article includes quotes from Clover & Cobbler team members Kim & Bill. The article is titled ‘Students Tour Clover & Cobbler, an LA-based, Alumna-Owned Footwear Factory’

Read the full feature here. 

Students Tour Clover & Cobbler, an LA-Based Alumna-Owned Footwear Factory

Students in the Footwear Design & Development Program visited FIDM Alumna-owned footwear factory Clover & Cobbler in Van Nuys on a recent field trip. The factory is owned by grad Jaclyn Jones who creates her eponymous shoe designs here as well as their other in-house footwear brands Californians and Salpy. With their private label business, Clover & Cobbler also provides emerging designers the opportunity to grow by offering low minimums on production orders.

Kim Thomas, Chief Production Officer and FIDM Footwear Design Alumna, gave the students a private tour of the manufacturing facility to provide a first-hand look at how a footwear production line operates.

“If the ultimate goal is to start your own collection,” she said, “the most important thing you can do is spend time working with industry experts to gather all the information you need to have a successful launch. While great designs, detailed spec sheets and thoughtful sourcing are necessary, hands-on experience and industry knowledge are what will take your designs from paper to a best-selling shoe.”

The class, led by FIDM Instructor Bonnie Smith, met with artisans on the production line, including industry icon Kevork Kalaidjian. “He’s one of the most talented last makers in the world,” said Bonnie Smith. Kevork, whose father was also a master shoemaker, is a master woodworker, and demonstrated to the students how to carve a wooden heel using a spindle sander.

Kim Thomas lectured on various aspects of footwear development and engaged the artisans in demonstrations to show various techniques and systems on machines including the Elettrotecnica B.C. automated toe lasting machine, which pulls the shoe upper around the last mechanically to increase efficiency and speed in the lasting process. Students also saw the machine that presses gold foil with a heat stamp to print brand names and logos on the insole.

Bill Clark has partnered with Clover & Cobbler to launch their new footwear label Californians. He explained the importance of efficiency on the production line, saying, “every movement in a factory is time, and time is money.”

Bill walked the students through the insole production line, showing them a typical shank and how it supports the structure of the shoe. Then they walked through the stitching department where the students witnessed an artisan using water-based glue to hold leather pattern pieces together before stitching.

The students toured the leather library, the last library, and the sample room where all the prototypes are made. They watched a demonstration on skiving, where leather is shaved down so it can fold over the last and easily tuck under, eliminating bulk.

The students were also shown how shoe pattern pieces are cut by hand.

Another important aspect of footwear development is factory safety. Clover & Cobbler uses downdraft machines which vent dust and vapors, keeping the air clean for safe breathing.

With 20 years’ experience at California-based footwear brand Sbicca, Bill Clark advised the students as they launch their careers in footwear design. “Work in retail, listen to the customers, and gain as much insight as you can into buyer motivations in your category,” he said. “See what works and what fits.”