Earls Barton: Articles: Earls Barton and Kinky Boots

W J Brooks and Co was founded in 1889, and for four generations the Pateman family worked there making high quality shoes and boots – everything from brogues to Beatle Boots. This long tradition is not how the firm will be remembered by many, however.

 “I am shoes”

Steve Pateman began work on its factory floor as a 17-year-old school-leaver.  “I finished school in the morning and started working in the afternoon,” he recalls. “I worked my way up, and learnt how to operate every machine.

“I love being around shoes. I live, I eat, I am shoes. I’ve been hearing about them ever since I was a little kid at the family table.”

Trouble ahead

In the late 1990s as managing director Steve Pateman faced seeing his family shoe-making business going to the wall like many other county firms. Rather than give up, he made a now famous decision to try something new. His risk in turning the factory over to the production of ladies boots for male cross-dressers was first picked up by a BBC documentary, then Hollywood and now the West End. Earls Barton will be remembered by many for its kinky boots.

Taking a risk

With orders declining and faced with making staff redundant, Steve received a phone call from a woman from a fetish shoe shop in Folkstone, who asked if he could supply her with ladies’ shoes in men’s sizes. The niche market of erotic boots in men’s sizes suddenly opened up.

Investing in the future

Steve worked on the designs himself and invested in new machinery to produce his “kinky boots”. They were sold under the name Divine Footwear, and went on to become the mainstay of this traditional shoe factory for several years.

Earls Barton on the big screen

Filming for ‘Kinky Boots’ came to Earls Barton when the cast and crew came to shoot the funeral scene which open the film in the churchyard of All Saints. Most of the internal factory scenes were shot within the Tricker’s factory in Northampton.