Listen In: Mike Rancourt Joins the Stitchdown Shoecast
Mike on the Stitchdown Shoecast
For nearly sixty years, we've been making handsewn shoes in Lewiston, Maine. Three generations, the same craft, cut and stitched by hand in our factory.
Mike sat down with Ben Robinson of Stitchdown for a conversation about how we got here. Maine's shoemaking history, the handsewn moccasin process, and the community that kept this kind of work alive through the offshoring years.
A Conversation with the Craft in the Background
Listen closely and you'll hear it. Throughout the conversation, one of our shoemakers can be heard handsewing a moccasin in the background. Not a studio effect. Just the sound of work happening in our factory every day.
Needle, thread, leather. The rhythm of the same craft Mike is describing.
What We Talk About
Mike walks through the history of Rancourt & Co., what true handsewn moccasin construction actually involves, and why we've kept making our shoes in Maine when so much of the industry moved elsewhere.
He shares what the decline of Maine shoemaking looked like from the inside, and what it takes to keep the craft going today.
Thanks to Stitchdown
We're grateful to Ben Robinson and the Stitchdown team for inviting Mike on and for building a space where conversations about footwear go deeper than the finished product..
Listen to the Full Episode
You can listen to Mike Rancourt's full interview on the Stitchdown Shoecast here:
Thank you to everyone who continues to support American-made craftsmanship. Every pair you wear helps preserve a tradition that has been part of Maine for generations.