SHOE & LEATHER FAIR.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20085, 14 November 1930, Page 8

SHOE & LEATHER FAIR.

NOVELTIES FOR 1931.

EXHIBITS OF 469 FIRMS.

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LONDON, October 9

There are 489 firms exhibiting at the annual Shoe : and Leather 1 air this week. To the general public the exhibition is interesting as a .forecast of the footwear fashions for the coming year. Novelty and development axe to be seen in ladies' shoes, of course, rather than in men's. The keynote in ladies shoes is soberer colours, as against the blues and greens which were in evidence last year. Heal and imitation reptile skin are to be found in quite as great abundance as last year, but dark browns and blacks outnumber all the other lines. Where reptile skin is used there appears to be a tendency to trim the shoes with plain leather or suede.

Among the ladies' shoes which immediately attracted one's attention, was a fancy court with brown lizard vamp and suede quarters, trimmed with brown kid and piped with gold. From the same Belgian firm was a tie shoe in blue suede and blue kid trimmed with lizard. While' speaking of foreign articles, the all-rubber children's beach shoes may be mentioned. These are cast all in one piece, and naturally are seamless. The firm responsible for them are manufacturing at the rate of 8000 P&irs & day. The shoes have been made for the past four years, but this is the first time the firm has exhibited in England. . . Among the new patterns m higngrade upper leathers introduced by British manufacturers this year is the ingenious treatment of calf skin to give the appearance of tweed. s novel idea, which has been -widely adopted in the case of women s sports and walking shoes, promises to:be very popular. Another novelty is . the use of fish skins. Owing to the carbonate of lime in fish skins, it was found that needles were always breaking m the manufacturing processes, but one firm seems to have got over this difficulty. In ladies' shoes the one-bar with button or buckle continues to be very general. There are English shoes with python grain trimming, a-nd those m hazel and bulrush glac£ kid; those m bulrush kjd with lizard oollar; welter walking shoes in niggerpm seal morocoo, with baby Java python panels; those in patent leather _and lizard, and in kid and lizard. Then there are one-bar shoes in brown suede and pig grain to tone, and models in patent and fancy gram with military heel. A New Leather Design. An interesting new design comes from a Northampton firm. It is called honey shark calf. The design of the loather has been reproduced from the cutting of a tanned and dressed membranous lining from the intestines of a shark. The imitation resembles the real very closely. ' There is a slight tendency to make men's ordinary shoes a little more decorative. Otherwise they are much the same as last year. Men's sports shoes, however, are now being made with greater decoration. Instead of the entirely white tennis shoes, for instance, these are to be seen trimmed with red and green stripes. Wellington rubber boots for children are being made in black, tan, blue, green, and red to match the coloured' mackintoshes worn by children. Elastic Shoe Lace. Wc havo at last a practical elastic shoe lace. This lace when once fitted to a boot or shoe does not have to be either unlaced or laced to remove the shoe or put it on.. Everyone will immediately appreciate that this means a great saving in time and patience, and has the additional advantage of being extremely neat. The method of fixing the lace is simplicity itself, it being held firmly in position by a small fastener which slides into the back of the eyelet in the shoe so that there is no roughness that can cause discomfort. It is made in all colours, and is obtainable from the leading shoe shops, stores, and drapers, etc., at 4d per pair. In silk 6d. Experts may note at this exhibition . the fruits of the modem method known j as rationalisation, as applied to the shoe and manufacturing industry. Several of the exhibiting firms are now running: three or four factories, each being organised for specialisation in a particular grade of footwear. One section of the Fair is devoted to machinery, and many improvements and entirely new appliances for increasing efficiency are to be seen. Particular interest attaches to the growing use of the continuous wheel-feed models. Fine stitching is the fetish of the present time in shoe-making. The finest stitching may be seen at the Fair in a closing seam having thirty-three stitches to the inch, so perfectly formed as to avoid the weakness of over-per-foration —a mechanical miracle which could not be equalled by hand. This is made on a wheel-feed model. Of special importance is the increased use of chain-stitch machines for both toeeapping and silking. It is to be noted that most shoe machines of new design are fitted to take self-contained motors. At first it was urged on behalf of these small-power units that they were cheaper in the long run because of the economy of current, but they are now r'egarded with special "favour because they are "safer'' than the usual lines of shafts and belts. An Imperial Exhibition. Another exhibition illustrating the development of the leather industry in relation to • the Imperial resources of boot and shoe manufacture is in progress at the Imperial Institute. In addition to tanning materials and leathers of all kinds there is shown a representative collection of historical and presentday footwear. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit among the latter class is a pair of shoes belonging to Camera, the Italian boxing giant.: Scientists hold that the pre-eminence of leather. soleing is due to the fact that whilst it will keep out the wet, air and vapours can penetrate it. This fact is interestingly demonstrated at the exhibition by a working model, in which air is passed through a piece of ordinary British sole leather, which forms the base of a tank of water. In one part of the pavilion there can bo seen at work two types of the 120 different machines used in the manufacture of welted shoes, with men beside them pursuing the same processes by hand. Another machine illustrates the manufacture of lasts from Canadian maplewood, while leather undergoing the processes of tanning is seen at various stages, both moist and dry. Foot anatomy and tho diseases which illfitting boots or shoes may bring about can be observed in a series of exhibits prepared by the Chelsea Polytechnic.