a shoe factory
in the city
London Sneaker School is a footwear factory concept built on education and community.
In our factory workshop in Hackney, London we teach people to make sneakers.
We bring craft to the culture to create new opportunities for expression that are more sustainable and equitable.
What we’ve done
Taught over 100 students traditional shoemaking
Yeezy Foam Runner football boots for Speed
Bespoke sneakers for a network of VIP clientele
Custom sneakers for Moto GP riders
Custom workshops transforming worn shoes into new styles
Invited to pop-up on Savile Row for 3 months
what our students have done
Taylor is hand making footwear for movies in Tennesee, USA
Stella crafts sneaker dioramas
Teddy teaches on LSS courses
Lux runs custom workshops in Toronto
Aida runs her own brands AfroKickz
Latya runs her sneaker custom brand
Aris makes hand made sneakers from his own store in Switzerland
Sam is a footwear designer at NoTwoWays
Josh continued studying footwear in Italy
Danny started bespoke sneaker brand Kickin’ Off in Bristol
Janay started brand Malabar High in Mumbai
Marcia hand crafts her own sneakers
London Sneaker School on Savile Row
Our Savile Row pop-up store represented our commitment to bridge culture with craft on the most prestigious bespoke fashion location in the world.
In our Savile Row store we taught students traditional cordwainer techniques as they hand made their pairs of Jordans and Dunks.
We also ran custom workshops, providing new ways for consumers to engage with their footwear.
TEAM
Jase Cooper
Jase’s 15 year design career spanning tech, footwear, fashion and music is at the root of London Sneaker School’s commitment to empowering creators through making. After exhibiting a sneaker brand at London Fashion Week Jase teamed up with Thomas to use education and community to enable and foster the sneaker brands and creators of the future in their Hackney workshop.
Founder + creative director
Thomas Rowe
Founder + shoemaking director
Thomas Rowe’s 15 years shoemaking experience puts the craft at heart of everything we do. Thomas also runs Footwear For Film, located in the same workshop as London Sneaker School providing bespoke shoes for movie productions including clientele such as Disney, Netflix, Lucas Films and many more. Thomas taught Jase how to make shoes 7 years ago before they teamed up to bring shoemaking craft to sneaker culture in their workshop in Hackney, London.
Ish Luis Bequessa
Ish’s shoemaking journey started as an apprentice at London Sneaker School after attending a course. His commitment to shoemaking is testament to the craft, working up to produce bespoke shoes for LSS and working with Footwear For Film. Ish’s experience as a sneaker customiser led him to LSS where he currently leads our shoemaking and custom workshops.
Shoemaker + Custom Lead
Work With Us
We specialise in footwear projects that connect with culture. Our services and areas of expertise include:
Experience
Workshop Facilitation
Educational Courses
Online courses
Sneaker production
Bespoke Nike Customs
Prototyping + Sampling
Footwear Design + Development
Services
Creative Direction
Content Direction
Content Production