True American Luxury

My dream to start a shoe company started a long time ago, when I was a kid, sketching shoes and saving all my money for new kicks. I wanted to design for Nike one day, but my dream evolved as I learned about conditions in factories overseas. I decided I wanted to learn to make shoes here, in America, from the bottom up, rather than designing something that would be mass produced by someone far away, who was overworked and underpaid.

Before I could get too far into teaching myself about shoe construction, we got an opportunity to purchase machinery that would allow us to open a micro shoe factory. After months of searching for investors and wondering if it was too crazy of an idea, my wife's grandfather decided to take a chance on us. We flew out to LA to purchase our machines and shipped them back to our hometown.

Our materials (leather, cotton textiles, laces, eyelets) are sourced from US manufacturers and we only use the best leathers and quality textiles in the world. Many of our materials are sourced within 200 miles of our factory. Our sneakers are designed, created and cut/sewn in house in our small North Carolina factory, where we employ incredible people here in our hometown.  

When you purchase a pair, you are part of the movement to bring shoemaking back to the states. Your purchase directly impacts our ability to train shoemakers and support the other artisans that our craft cannot live without - tanneries, lace makers, textile manufacturers, hardware suppliers. It is a ripple effect, and we want to make waves! 

We can't wait to welcome you to the Opie family.