Tuesday, 29 March 2016
"Marguerite" Directed by Xavier Giannoli / Catherine Frot Meilleure actrice Cesar 2016
Marguerite is a 2015
drama film directed by Xavier Giannoli and written by Giannoli and
Marcia Romano, loosely inspired by the life of Florence Foster
Jenkins. Set in the Golden Twenties, the film stars Catherine Frot as
a socialite and aspiring opera singer who believes she has a
beautiful voice. The film is an international co-production between
France, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. Marguerite received eleven
nominations at the 41st César Awards, winning for Best Actress, Best
Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Production Design.
Directed by Xavier
Giannoli
Produced by
Artemio Benki
Olivier Delbosc
Marc Missonnier
Written by
Xavier Giannoli
Marcia Romano
Starring Catherine
Frot
Music by Ronan
Maillard
Cinematography Glynn
Speeckaert
Edited by Cyril
Nakache
Production
companies
La Banque Postale 8
Canal+
CNC
Eurimages
Fidélité Films
France 3 Cinéma
France Télévisions
Scope Pictures
Sirena Film
Distributed by
Memento Films
Distribution (France)
ArtCam (Czech
Republic)
Release dates
4 September 2015
(Venice)
16 September 2015
(France)
24 September 2015
(Czech Republic)
Running time
128 minutes
Country
France
Czech Republic
Belgium
Language French
Florence Foster Jenkins - Queen of the Night by Mozart.
Florence Foster Jenkins (July 19, 1868 – November 26, 1944) was an American socialite and amateur operatic soprano who was known and ridiculed for her lack of rhythm, pitch, and tone; her aberrant pronunciation; and her generally poor singing ability.
Two days following the Carnegie Hall concert, while shopping at G. Schirmer's Music Store, Jenkins suffered a heart attack. She died a month later, on November 26, 1944, at the age of 76 at her Manhattan residence, the Hotel Seymour in New York City.
Born Nascina Florence Foster in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Mary Jane (née Hoagland 1851–1930) and Charles Dorrance Foster (1836–1909). She had one sibling, a sister named Lillian, who died at age 8 in 1883. She dropped her first name and went by her middle name, Florence, during her formative years. Her father was a lawyer, and his family was wealthy and owned land near Back Mountain, Pennsylvania.
Jenkins received piano lessons as a child and, after becoming a child prodigy pianist, performed all over the state of Pennsylvania, appearing in Sängerfests and even at the White House during the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Upon graduating from high school, she expressed a desire to go abroad to study music, but her wealthy father refused to pay the bill, so she retaliated and eloped with Dr. Frank Thornton Jenkins (1852–1917) and they moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were married around 1885.
Shortly after their marriage, Jenkins contracted syphilis from her husband and Dr. Jenkins was never mentioned again. It is not known whether they obtained a divorce or separated, but she kept his family name as her own.
Shortly after their marriage, Jenkins contracted syphilis from her husband and Dr. Jenkins was never mentioned again. It is not known whether they obtained a divorce or separated, but she kept his family name as her own.
Jenkins earned a living in Philadelphia as a piano teacher, but after suffering an arm injury, she had no means to support herself and lived in near poverty. She was very close to her mother, Mary, who came to Foster's rescue and the two eventually moved to New York City around 1900. It is then that she decided to become a singer. In 1909, she met a British Shakespearean actor named St. Clair Bayfield (later her manager) and they later legalized the relationship in a common-law marriage that would last the rest of her life.
When her father died in 1909, Jenkins inherited sufficient funds to begin her long-delayed career in music. She took voice lessons and became involved in the musical social circles of New York City, where she founded and funded her own club, The Verdi Club. She became a member of dozens of women's clubs – literary, historical, etc. and she became Director of Music for many of these, as well as their producer of tableaux-vivants.
The best-known photograph of Jenkins shows her wearing angelic wings. This costume was designed for a tableau-vivant she produced, based on the painting Stephen Foster and the Angel of Inspiration by Howard Chandler Christy. It was also said that in every group of tableaux-vivants that she produced for the clubs, she would always be the main character in the final tableau of the group. She began giving recitals in 1912, when she was in her early 40s. Her mother Mary died in New York City at the Park Central Hotel in 1930, after which Jenkins inherited additional resources to continue her singing career.
From her recordings it is apparent that Jenkins had little sense of pitch or rhythm, and was barely capable of sustaining a note. Her accompanist, Cosmé McMoon, can be heard making adjustments to compensate for her tempo variations and rhythmic mistakes. Her dubious diction, especially in foreign languages, is also noteworthy. In retrospect, her difficulties have at least partially been attributed to her ongoing battle with syphilis, which caused progressive deterioration of her central nervous system. The ravages of her disease were compounded by side effects from poisonous mercury and arsenic treatments—the only therapy available for syphilis at the time. No effective treatment existed until the discovery of penicillin; by the time it became generally available, Jenkins' disease had progressed to the tertiary stage, which is unresponsive even to antibiotics.
Despite the vocal and musical inaccuracies of her performances, which took place mostly at small salons or recital halls, Jenkins became popular for the amusement she unwittingly provided. Audience members sometimes described her technique in an "intentionally ambiguous" way that may have served to pique public curiosity; for example, "Her singing at its finest suggests the untrammeled swoop of some great bird." Her audiences were by invitation only, and until her final performance at Carnegie Hall, no professional music critics ever reviewed her performances in the legitimate press. Favorable articles and bland reviews in musical publications, such as The Musical Courier, were most likely written by her friends, or herself.
Jenkins' lifelong need to perform began when she was seven years old, and she reportedly remained firmly convinced of her talent throughout her life. She compared herself favorably to the renowned sopranos Frieda Hempel and Luisa Tetrazzini, and dismissed the abundant audience laughter during her performances as "hoodlums ... planted by her rivals." She was aware of her detractors, but never let them stand in her way: "People may say I can't sing," she said, "but no one can ever say I didn't sing."
Her recitals featured a mixture of the standard operatic repertoire by Mozart, Verdi, and Johann Strauss (all well beyond her technical ability); Lieder by Brahms; Valverde's "Clavelitos" ("Little Carnations" – a favorite encore), and songs composed by herself or accompanist Cosmé McMoon.
Jenkins often wore elaborate costumes that she designed for herself, sometimes appearing in wings and tinsel, and, for "Clavelitos", throwing flowers into the audience from a basket (on one occasion, she hurled the basket as well) while fluttering a fan and sporting more flowers in her hair. After at least one "Clavelitos" performance the audience demanded that she sing it again, compelling McMoon to collect the flowers from the audience for the encore.
While riding in a taxi, it collided with another car and Jenkins let out a scream. She then discovered that she could sing "a higher F than ever before", and sent the cab driver a box of expensive cigars.
In spite of public demand, Jenkins restricted her rare performances to clubs and the Grand Ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where she would give a recital annually in October. Attendance was limited to her loyal clubwomen and a select few others; she handled distribution of the coveted tickets herself, carefully excluding professional critics. At the age of 76 she finally yielded to public demand and performed at Carnegie Hall on October 25, 1944. Tickets for the event sold out weeks in advance and numerous celebrities attended, such as dancer and actress Marge Champion, song writer Cole Porter, composer Gian-Carlo Menotti, actress Kitty Carlisle and soprano Lily Pons with her husband, conductor André Kostelanetz (who composed a song for Jenkins to sing that night). Since this was her first "public" appearance, newspaper critics could not be prevented from attending. Their scathing, sarcastic reviews devastated Jenkins, according to Bayfield.
Monday, 28 March 2016
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
Monday, 14 March 2016
Message from Jeeves / Revista DOZE.
Revista DOZE , published an article / profile , kindly giving me the opportunity to express my views and definitions around aesthetics, style , the principles of my garderobe and its connection with the decor of my interiors, the fundamental differences between the Gentleman and the Dandy, enfin, my aesthetic philosophy of Life and its role in the great mystery of Existence.
Greetings Jeeves /
António Sérgio Rosa de Carvalho / Architectural Historian
PHOTOS: Michael Floor.
Link to the site where you can read the article online
PHOTOS: Michael Floor.
Link to the site where you can read the article online
The Duke of Atholl / VIDEO: Atholl Highlanders' Parade 2010
12th Duke of Atholl
As Duke of Atholl, he has the right to raise Europe's only legal private army, named the Atholl Highlanders (a unique privilege granted to his family by Queen Victoria after visiting Blair Atholl in 1844).
Bruce George Ronald Murray, 12th Duke of Atholl (born 6 April 1960) is a South African-born hereditary peer in the Peerage of Scotland and Chief of Clan Murray. As Duke of Atholl, he has the right to raise Europe's only legal private army, named the Atholl Highlanders (a unique privilege granted to his family by Queen Victoria after visiting Blair Atholl in 1844).
The elder son of
John Murray, 11th Duke of Atholl and Margaret Yvonne née Leach (now
styled the Dowager Duchess of Atholl), matriculated at Jeppe High
School for Boys Johannesburg in 1979. He was educated at Saasveld
Forestry College before serving his two years' National Service with
the South African Infantry Corps.He is currently a volunteer member
of the Transvaal Scottish Regiment, holding the rank of Lieutenant.
Previously he managed a tea plantation, but then ran a signage
business producing signs for commercial buildings. He was
commissioned into the Atholl Highlanders in 2000, being appointed as
Lieutenant Colonel. Upon the death of his father on 15 May 2012, he
succeeded to all his father's titles, becoming the 12th Duke of
Atholl.
The Duke first
married on 4 February 1984 at Johannesburg Lynne Elizabeth Andrew
(born Johannesburg, 7 June 1963) and they divorced in 2003.
Together they had
three children, two sons and one daughter:
Michael Bruce John
Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine (born in Louis Trichardt, 5 March
1985)
Lord David Nicholas
George Murray (born in Louis Trichardt, 31 January 1986)
Lady Nicole Murray
(born in Duiwelskloof, 11 July 1987); married to Peter Piek.
He married Charmaine
Myrna (née du Toit) in 2009.
11th Duke of Atholl
John Murray, 11th
Duke of Atholl (19 January 1929 – 15 May 2012) was a South
African-born hereditary peer of the Peerage of Scotland, hereditary
Clan Chief of Clan Murray, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Atholl
Highlanders. As Duke of Atholl, he commanded the only legal private
army in Europe.
The Duke was born in
Johannesburg, South Africa, as the only child of Major George Murray
(1884–1940) and Joan (d. 2000), the daughter of William Edward
Eastwood, of South Africa. They were married on 17 January 1928. His
father was killed on active service in the Second World War.
He was the grandson
of Reverend Douglas Stuart Murray, Rector of Blithfield,
Staffordshire, who was the grandson of the Right Reverend George
Murray, who was the son of the Right Reverend Lord George Murray, the
second son of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl.
He graduated with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of the
Witwatersrand, a leading South African University.
After taking his
degree, Murray worked as a land surveyor.
On 15 December 1956
in Pretoria, he married Margaret "Peggy" Yvonne Leach (born
Louis Trichardt, 8 July 1935), the only daughter of Ronald Leonard
Leach of Louis Trichardt, Transvaal, South Africa (Pretoria, 31
August 1910 - Louis Trichardt, 18 December 1964) and wife (Lovedale
Park, Louis Trichardt) Faith Kleinenberg (Louis Trichardt, 20 July
1913 - Louis Trichardt, 11 June 1968) and paternal granddaughter of
Charles Ronald Leach (Whittlesea, 26 March 1887 - Eshowe, 7 December
1953) and first wife Louise Adelaide Zeederberg ( - Whittlesea, 5
June 1922).
They had three
children:
Lady Jennifer Murray
(born 8 February 1958), who married firstly Iain Purdon in 1979
(divorced 1985) and secondly Martin Glodek. By her first husband she
has two children:
Grant Clive Purdon
(born 1981) and
Charlene Purdon
(born 1983).
Bruce Murray, now
12th Duke of Atholl (born 6 April 1960), who was educated at Saasveld
Forestry College and in 1984 married Lynne Elizabeth Andrew, the
first daughter of Nicholas Andrew, of Bedfordview, South Africa. They
have three children:
Michael Bruce John
Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine (born 5 March 1985), who is a sports
science student at the University of Pretoria. The 12th Duke lives in
South Africa and is a volunteer member of the South African Defence
Force (Transvaal Scottish Regiment) as well as an officer of the
Atholl Highlanders.;
Lord David Nicholas
George Murray (born 31 January 1986); and
Lady Nicole Murray
(born 11 July 1987), who is married to Peter Piek.
Lord Craig John
Murray (born 1963), who in 1988 married Inge Bakker, the second
daughter of Auke Bakker, of Bedfordview, South Africa. They have two
children:
Carl Murray (born
1993) and
Shona Murray (born
1995).
On the death of his
kinsman George Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl, Murray succeeded as 11th
Duke. However, the day before the death of the 10th Duke, it was
announced that he had given his ancestral seat of Blair Castle and
most of his estates to a charitable trust, thus effectively
disinheriting his heir. He had been unimpressed when his heir had
indicated he had no desire to leave South Africa for Scotland. The
new Duke thus inherited little but the titles and the right to raise
a private army.
Atholl continued to
live in South Africa, while making annual visits to Scotland. He died
on 15 May 2012 in a South African hospital at the age of 83. He was
succeeded in his titles by his elder son, Bruce Murray, Marquess of
Tullibardine.
The Last Dukes, BBC Two
Dukedoms are created
by the monarch for reasons ranging from a grateful nation rewarding a
major war leader to a king acknowledging his illegitimate son. The
last dukedom to be created was by Queen Victoria. As they gradually
become extinct, what will become of those that remain? Do they still
have power and wealth? What is it to be a duke in the 21st century?
Answers come from a
surprising variety of extraordinary characters - the Duke of
Marlborough and his aunt, born Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill, who
remembers being brought up in Blenheim Palace with 36 indoor
servants, and the Duke of Atholl, who until 2012 was a rural South
African sign-maker called Bruce Murray - on succeeding to the dukedom
he now heads the only private army in Europe - the Atholl
Highlanders.
The Duke of Montrose
is a Scottish hill farmer and a politician, one of the few dukes who
still sit in the House of Lords. The Duchess of Rutland made dozens
of people redundant when she took over Belvoir Castle, but is
determined to make it an efficient business.
The Duke and Duchess
of St Albans don't have a stately pile, but do have their coronets
and coronation robes. The duke's heir Charles Beauclerk is fascinated
by the history of mental illness in the family. And if Camilla
Osborne had been a boy, she would have become the 11th Duke of Leeds.
But she wasn't and the dukedom is now extinct. Where does that leave
her?
Modern Times: The Last Dukes, BBC Two, review: 'over-egged'
The film’s
insistence that British dukes are a dying breed felt exaggerated,
says Gerard O'Donovan
By Gerard
O'Donovan10:01PM GMT 26 Oct 2015
The decline of the
English aristocracy is a current TV obsession. Downton Abbey has
spent much of its swansong series frothing about it. Modern Times:
The Last Dukes took a more contemporary view, exploring the
21st-century lives of members of the nobility’s highest rank below
royalty and their imminent “extinction”.
Things got off to a
somewhat predictable start with a peek at the splendours of Blenheim
Palace, seat of the dukes of Marlborough since 1722. Lady Rosemary
Spencer-Churchill recalled how being a duke’s daughter put her “top
of the pile” to be a maid of honour at the Queen’s coronation in
1953. And how she and her parents had never even spoken of it
because, in those days, one “had lots of very grand things that
happened all the time”. How times have changed.
Bruce Murray’s
experience was rather different. Until recently a sign-maker from an
“obscure provincial town” in South Africa, in 2012 he inherited
the title of 12th Duke of Atholl, along with a private army and an
obligation to dress up in a kilt at Blair Castle once a year.
Strangely, the vexed
question of primogeniture – dukedoms can only be passed down
through the male line – didn’t ruffle many feathers in Michael
Waldman’s film. The three daughters of the Duke of Rutland, for
instance, were perfectly content that their younger brother Charles
would inherit everything, including the stunning Belvoir Castle.
The Duchess of
Rutland and her daughters Lady Eliza Manners, Lady Alice Manners and
Lady Violet Manners (Photo: BBC/Spun Gold TV)
In the meantime the
other dukes featured – of Montrose, St Albans and Marlborough –
all seemed to be perfectly content with their lot. And while perhaps
not rolling in the vast wealth and grandeur they might once have
considered a birthright, they didn’t seem to be doing too badly.
Curiously no mention was made of the thriving Duke of Westminster,
one of the UK’s wealthiest landowners.
The 8th Duke of
Montrose, in Robes for State Opening of Parliament in his House of
Lords Office (Photo: BBC/Spun Gold TV)
As such, charming
and fascinating as these glimpses into the still-privileged lives of
others were, the film’s dogged insistence that British dukes were
“a dying breed” did feel over-egged. At the outset we learnt that
in 1953 there were 28 non-royal dukes. Now, 62 years on, there are
24. At that rate of attrition it could take centuries for the rank to
die out. Rumours of extinction, one couldn’t help feeling, were
greatly exaggerated.
Saturday, 12 March 2016
Crockett and Jones / VIDEO below :Crockett and Jones 'Official Factory Tour'
Crockett & Jones
was founded in 1879, in Northampton, by Charles Jones and his
brother-in-law, James Crockett. They established the business with a
grant of £100 each from the Thomas White Trust ‘to encourage young
men of good character in the towns of Northampton and Coventry to set
up business on their own’.
Northampton had
always been renowned for shoe making in England since the middle
ages; starting as a centre for tanning. The abundance of local oak
forests provided the oak bark, which was considered the best tanning
material at the time and the River Nene was the source of water for
this process. The central location of Northampton, en-route to
London, gave the town good communications and enabled the tanners to
obtain hides from the butchers with ease. After this it wasn’t long
before shoe makers naturally gathered where leather was readily
available, working out of their homes and in small workshops. By the
time that Crockett & Jones was established, shoe makers had begun
to join together to open small factories using new machinery that had
been developed specifically for the shoe industry during the
Industrial Revolution.
The first Crockett &
Jones factory in 1879 was a small building in Carey Street,
Northampton with 20 employees. Here they concentrated on making men’s
boots. The leathers were cut at the factory before being distributed
to out-workers who would take the parts home. They would then return
the finished components to the factory, so that the boots could be
completed.
The business was
successful and expanded rapidly with more and more work being done
inside the factory. In the 1890’s the 2nd generation (Harry
Crockett and Frank Jones) began to integrate new machinery, which was
invented by Charles Goodyear from the USA for stitching the uppers,
welts and soles together. This made the process much easier, and
faster, and gave rise to the name for the superior construction
process that we continue to use today, called ‘Goodyear Welted’.
Towards the turn of
the century James Crockett and Charles Jones recognised the need to
find a larger factory for continued expansion of the business. In
1897 they bought a new factory in Perry Street, which Crockett &
Jones still occupy today. In 1910 a 5 storey wing was built onto this
factory; the first all-steel structured building in Northampton. It
boasted a huge proportion of glass to give superb natural lighting
for production – an attribute which still benefits the workforce
today.
Around this time
most of the shoes were sold in the home market but the company was
also exporting a significant volume through-out the world to:
Australia, Argentina, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, USA and the
Far East. Crockett & Jones had now established a reputation as
one of the best shoe makers in the country. In 1911 they were awarded
the Diploma D’Onoro (Diploma of Honour) at the International
Manufacturing Exhibition in Turin for their designs.
In 1911 Percy Jones,
the brother of Frank Jones, joined the company – this was to be the
start of a long serving, 67 year partnership in the business. In 1914
Crockett & Jones footwear was used for the 2nd time on a
Shackleton Polar expedition thus emphasising the excellent quality of
the shoes and their construction.
In 1924 Crockett &
Jones was honoured with Royal Patronage; a visit to the factory in
Perry Street by H.R.H The Duke of York (later King George VI) who
paid great attention to the shoe making process on his tour around
the factory. This visit sparked much national press interest and
people crowded the streets to get a glimpse of The Duke.
In 1927 Gilbert
Jones, the son of Frank Jones, started at Crockett & Jones
becoming the 3rd generation of the Jones family involved in running
the business. By this stage the company employed over 1000 people
and production had reached record levels of 15,000 pairs per week;
the majority of which were women’s shoes and boots.
An intensive
advertising campaign was launched in the 1930’s to drive sales
using the Swan and Health brands. As the company continued to succeed
a second wing was added to the Perry Street factory in 1935,
providing a new office block, showroom and an in-stock department.
The original front door was moved from Magee Street to Perry Street
with a new staircase and reception. This is still used as the main
entrance today and retains its impressive 1930’s Art Deco design.
During the 2nd World
War Crockett & Jones manufactured over a 1 million pairs for the
armed forces. They were under instructions from the government to
switch the majority of the production to military footwear; making
officers’ shoes and boots for the army, navy and air force. To
produce this volume many retired men and married women came back to
work to join in the war effort.
After the war in
1947 Richard Jones, son of Percy Jones and grandson of founder
Charles Jones, joined the business. Today Richard is still involved
as Chairman and imparts his vast knowledge of shoe making to
everyone. In 1948 the Crockett & Jones Partnership was dissolved
in order to found Crockett & Jones Ltd and Percy Jones became
Chairman.
In the 1950’s the
bulk of production was sold in the home market, although exports had
begun to expand again. By 1961 around 21% of the output was exported.
The factory continued to embrace new technologies to aid production,
while keeping the traditional hand processes passed on through the
generations, in order to maintain high quality standards at all
costs. In the 1970’s however, sales in the Commonwealth countries
began to decline following Britain’s entry into the European
Economic Community (EEC). In 1974, Crockett & Jones dropped the
'Swan' brand for women and 'Health' brand for men. After this all
shoes made by Crockett & Jones were made under the Crockett &
Jones brand.
Jonathan Jones, son
of Richard Jones, joined the company in 1977, the same year that
Richard was appointed Managing Director. At this time, a decision was
taken to re-focus the business. From now onwards they would
concentrate on producing men’s high quality Goodyear Welted
footwear and developing export sales in Europe, USA and Japan. A new
marketing division was put in place under Jonathan’s management and
the UK and International collections were re-defined.
As the business
began to build again over the next 15 years, exports reached 70% of
the overall production and in 1990 Crockett & Jones was awarded
the coveted Queens Award for Export Achievement. Crockett & Jones
continued to supply some of the world’s best known “own label”
collections but now as Managing Director, Jonathan also wanted to
increase the ‘Crockett & Jones’ branded distribution. As part
of this strategy it was decided to re-visit the company’s long
standing interest in retail. In 1997 Crockett & Jones opened
their 1st retail shop in Jermyn Street, London. Over the next 14
years another 10 retail shops and concessions were opened by Crockett
& Jones across London, Birmingham, New York, Paris and Brussels.
In 2004 the factory
in Perry Street was designated as a Grade II listed building, in
order to preserve the history of the shoe trade in Northampton. The
building has, in fact, changed very little since the 1930’s. In
2005 Nicholas Jones, Jonathan’s brother, joined the company as
Production Director and Jonathan, as Managing Director, concentrates
on strategy, sales and development. In 2006 Philippa Jones,
Jonathan’s daughter, started in the family business as the 5th
generation of the Jones family.
Crockett & Jones
continue to export about 70% of the production. The expansion of the
retail division together with on-going development of worldwide
distribution has led to the brand becoming internationally
established. The strong reputation of Crockett & Jones, which
continues to flourish, is built on solid foundations and a great
ethos started many generations ago. The fact that the business
remains in the hands of the family who started it, ensures that the
standards of the past are maintained today and lends a more personal
touch to the fine shoes that they produce.
Now after more than
130 years Crockett & Jones' shoes still retain the attention to
detail, quality, comfort and durability that was the hallmark of
their founders, Sir James Crockett and Charles Jones.
Crockett & Jones
is a shoe manufacturing company, established in 1879 by Charles Jones
and Sir James Crockett in Northampton, England. They were able to
establish the company with a grant from the Thomas White Trust. It
specialises in the manufacture of Goodyear-welted footwear. It is
currently being run by the great grandson of its co-founder, Charles
Jones. Crockett & Jones produces both men's and women's footwear
with three collections offered for men (Hand Grade Collection, Main
Collection and Shell Cordovan Collection) and a limited range of
boots and low heeled shoes produced for women
Though the
manufacturing of shoes has changed since Crockett & Jones was
founded, the company's aim is to produce shoes of the highest
quality. C&J uses a skilled workforce in labour-intensive
operations. A Goodyear welt in Crockett & Jones' shoe assembly
gives a high level of reliability and strength in the shoe.
Northampton is
traditionally known for its shoe-making skills, one reason for
setting up the factory there in 1879. At the start of operations they
produced men’s boots. In the 1890s the second generation of Harry
Crockett and Frank Jones began to modernise with more advanced
machinery, particularly equipment produced by Charles Goodyear. It
produced shoes at a faster rate with lighter manual work.
In 1897, Crockett
and Jones expanded the company into a larger factory and purchased
the facility, which is still in use by the company.
In the 1910s the
company began exporting a large part of their production to
Australia, Argentina, South Africa, USA and the far east though the
UK still remained its principal market.
In the 1930s with
the third generation of the founders and still a family business,
production reached 15,000 pairs of shoes each week. The majority of
these were women’s boots and shoes. They also supplied the 1940s
war effort producing over a million pairs of officers' boots. The
company stopped production of their usual footwear during this time.
The company has
continued to evolve and absorb the changes necessary to make it
competitive, but still maintaining a high quality product. The is
also where all operations for the company take place, including
production, design and development.
The factory in Perry
Street, Northampton, dates back to the 1890s with additions to the
main building in 1910 and 1935, giving a large internal working
space. It has a large proportion of glass to give good natural
lighting throughout the building and a pleasant working environment,
but can get rather cold in the winter and extremely warm in the
summer.
In 1947, the
grandson of Charles Jones, Richard Jones, joined the family company.
In 1977 he was appointed Managing Director and is still involved with
it today as acting Chairman. Jonathan, Richard's son, also became
involved with the family business in 1977.
Jonathan Jones says:
We're flat out at the moment and our biggest problem is managing that
demand and finding the skilled labour we need to do it. The majority
of shoes produced today are being exported worldwide. The majority of
shoes sell in the $400–550 range.
As at 2014 there are
11 Crockett & Jones retail shops and concessions based in London,
Birmingham, Paris, Brussels and New York. The shops provide a stylish
and contemporary showcase for ready to wear footwear, including
velvet slippers and driving shoes and accessories. An extensive range
of Crockett & Jones shoes can also be found at high-end shoe
retailers such as Double Monk in Melbourne.
