Green Shoes founder steps into retirement

After 41 years at the helm of Green Shoes, Alison Hastie retired in

October, and she will be sorely missed. Alison will pass the reins over to a

small, but established team of shoemakers who will take on the business as

an employee-run enterprise.

Established in 1981, Green Shoes is a radical shoe-making business, handmaking

repairable, genderless footwear on a small scale in Devon.

Alison and a team of self-taught shoemakers, founded the original workshop in

Totnes. In 2006 Green Shoes moved to Buckfastleigh and then, in 2013,

Alison moved the shop and workshop to a converted chapel in Cross Street,

Moretonhampstead, where it remains today.

From this base on north Dartmoor, Green Shoes has continued to make

handcrafted, foot-shaped shoes and boots to be worn in the every-day, for

navigating terrains both local and global. The collection of classic designs on

offer has been carefully refined over the years to reflect Alison’s desire to

create footwear that stands the test of years of wear and changing trends. As

well as wanting to make shoes that will be well-loved and long-worn, Green

Shoes has worked to ensure that as many shoes (Green Shoes and non-

Green Shoes alike) as possible are re-soled and repaired, to both extend their

usefulness and limit their impact. Each pair of Green Shoes is little rebellion

against throwaway footwear.

Green Shoes has, since its inception, operated on a personalised basis.

Customers’ feet are measured and assessed; then the team of shoemakers

can advise on which styles and materials will best suit their needs. By running

in this way, building up knowledge of a person’s feet and requirements, Green

Shoes has developed many special relationships with its wearers. Alison has

been involved in (almost) every pair made in the last 41 years, a rare

achievement for any maker to claim.

Enduringly unique as a destination for hand-made footwear, Alison has built

Green Shoes into a business that is ever more relevant in today’s world and

which she hopes will continue to thrive after her departure. She leaves an

important legacy for 2022 and beyond.

Alison Hastie said: “I’m delighted to leave Green Shoes in the safe hands of Kim, Ed, Sarah, Rachel and Agnes, ensuring the continuation of Green Shoes as a local craft

business making long-lasting, repairable shoes and providing local, skilled

jobs. It has been a life-long passion working in shoemaking and I feel

privileged to have been able to spend these years of my life doing something I

believe in. And over the years the way we work together has become greater

than the sum of its parts.”