Shoemaker Ruth Emily Davey Opens New Shop in Wales

20th March 2023

Last month shoemaker Ruth Emily Davey opened a new shop for her bespoke shoemaking business RED Shoes, located in Machynlleth, mid-Wales.

The new building is a newly renovated four-story Victorian town house in smart red and gold, complete with hanging sign above the door. Amongst its many additions, it boasts an increased shop floor and fitting area to display the shoes themselves and has been described by clients as creating a warm and personal shoe buying experience unlike any other.

*The new premises, Arfon House, on the high street of the small market town, Machynlleth.*

Ruth is well known in the field of heritage crafts and bespoke shoemaking, with her list of awards and commendations include the Balvenie Young Master of Craft Award 2011, a QEST Scholarship 2013, and the Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowship in 2016, which enabled her to travel to Japan and Mexico to understand the passing down of skills from Master to Apprentice.

RED shoes are all made by hand and feature a unique design with broad toe box, close fitting arch support, and no heel, which is said to encourage the natural movement of the foot.

With additional workshops and office space, this expansion of the business will allow Ruth’s team to meet the demands from clients more readily following an increase in business over recent years.

The opening of the new business premises coincided with the relaunch of the website of The Original Shandals© Co. which is the sister company to RED specialising in making a handmade “off the peg” version of the bespoke shoes sold at RED.

Having apprenticed at the age of eighteen under the late great shoemaker Alan James Raddon, whose clientele included Billy Connolly, Sir Alec Guinness, Diana Athill and Emma Thompson, Davey – who is also a trained reflexologist – has upwards of twenty years of shoemaking experience and has made shoes for the likes of Hollywood starts like Drew Barrymore. Clients from as far-flung places such as, Alaska, Australia and South America have come to her shop in mid-Wales to seek her expertise.

RED opened in Machynlleth in 2016 and The Original Shandals© Co. as a joint venture between Davey and Raddon in 2019. Her distinctive “foot shaped shoes” champions the long-term health of the clients’ feet above fashion trends.

For more info visit www.ruthemilydavey.co.uk and www.shandals.co.uk

Photo credits: Heather Birnie