Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/48190
boot] and pattern makers. My father would not let me go out into the world selling foot- wear without knowing the elements of how to make it, and that was the best lesson he could have ever forced upon me." It was that nuts-and-bolts apprentice- ship that gave Weitzman the experience and confidence to take over the business when his father died unexpectedly and to move the operations to Europe. He launched his own company in 1986 and partnered with a capital investment firm in 2005, paving the way for major international expansion. Today, Weitzman employs 350 people in the U.S. and 2,000 at his factories in Elda, Spain and has nearly 40 retail stores in America (including Copley Place Boston, Natick, and a new Chestnut Hill boutique) and more than 40 stores worldwide. Each year, he sells two million pairs of shoes in 70 countries. Weitzman is still the company's prin- design history A U.S. patent and sketch by Seymour Weitzman that the younger Weitzman found in his attic; a childhood photo of Weitzman with his dad; and a pair of Heritage shoes, based on Weitz- man's father's sketch. "I remade it" and "modernized it a bit," Weitzman says. cipal designer, combining everything his father taught him with his own creative vision, plus cutting-edge technology em- ployed by a team of top designers, pattern makers, and technicians to create stunning heels and handbags. "We're always listening to women," he says. "They're independent, they're in the workplace and the best universities, they're their own thinkers. We can't tell them how to look. The era of the girdle has gone and with it the mental attitude of being told what to look like. They want choice, they want to make their own decisions, and they want variety." That's exactly what Weitzman offers, with 600 fashion, casual, sport, dress, and evening styles in 50 sizes each season, stitching together engineering, design, comfort, and trend-setting looks at a price that works in today's challenging economy. So what's trending this season? "Gor- geous-looking shoes on lower, wearable heels as opposed to everything being at skyscraper height," he says. "A low-cut, beautiful pump is the silhouette of the sea- son. It looks so good and fresh..." Weitzman says a flat boot also hits the mark, worn with dark tights or jeans tucked in (or out) of the boot, and an elegant high- heel sexy boot "is about as beautiful a way a woman can show herself off," he adds. Exotic reptile and animal skins—python, crocodile, alligator, lizard, leopard, tiger, hyena—are in vogue, but Weitzman stress- es they're not the real thing. "Women don't want to be part of destroying nature, but they want the look, feel, and attitude it of- fers," he says. "With modern technology, we can take lambskin and cowhide and recreate the look of an exotic skin, so the naked eye can't tell the difference." He's not exagger- ating, either. "I'm always very proud when the U.S. Department of Agriculture asks for an inspection of our shoes, and they need to call in Fish and Wildlife scientists to deter- mine if they're real reptile skins," he says. "That's how good technology has gotten." Weitzman, who is married with two daughters and lives in Connecticut, no longer makes the headline-grabbing, jew- el-encrusted "Million Dollar Shoes" for a leading actress to wear to the Oscars each year, but his fabulous heels will no doubt grace the red carpet at the 2012 ceremony. Hollywood and Haverhill may be worlds apart, but Weitzman has only good memo- ries and will be back for the unveiling of the mural next year. "It's amazing what this town has done," Weitzman says. "It was a dilapidated city when the shoe industry ended and now it's thriving again with fantastic lofts and apartments that grew out of factories and a young, active, cultural community." What would his father make of his suc- cess? "He loved footwear; he would be as proud as hell, I'm sure, and would be telling me how to correct a design," says Weitz- man, laughing. No pun intended, but this story has a wonderful footnote. Just last summer, Weitzman was clearing his attic and found a box marked 'Dad's Things.' Inside was a document, sealed with red wax and a rib- bon, with a beautiful shoe design sketched by his father when he was 21, and an official 1936 United States patent. "The shoe is gorgeous, so I remade it," he says. "I modernized it a bit; we're selling the heck out of it and using it in a campaign called 'Heritage.' Dad would love that." 139