Meet Niki Jessup and Corinne Bourget | Co Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Niki Jessup and Corinne Bourget and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Niki & Corinne, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
We’ve noticed people think shoes just pop out of some fancy machine already made, laced and ready to be placed into their box. One time when we were at a fair in Toronto to sell our sneakers, we overheard passersby commenting on how we must have only put in the laces. They were implying that we received the sneakers already made and all we did was place the laces.

Hand crafted sneakers are actually so complex. With our 4 hands only, Corinne and I click the leather (clicking means cutting the 10 pieces of leather, the 4 reinforcements, the two insoles and the 6 pieces of lining leather with a knife. Then we prepare the pieces. We skive them, which means thinning out the edges where we stitch to avoid bulkiness. We punch 32 holes per pair for the laces, and 24 smaller holes in preparation of the hand stitches. We machine stitch the pieces together, placing back seam tape for durability in the back strap and tongue strap, fibreglass reinforcements under the laces, and a foam cuff at the ankle for comfort. We hand stitch the 4 stay stitches at the joining of the quarters and the vamp. We place an initial pair of laces for lasting, which we remove and replace with the real ones.

Once the upper (top part of the sneaker) is assembled, we begin to last, by hand. Lasting is the process in which the leather is moulded around the last (which is the stylized shape of the foot). We hand pull the leather around the last, using pincers that have a hammer on the other side of the pincer. We pull the leather, then hammer a nail into an insole, on the bottom of the last. We repeat this process until we have perfectly moulded the leather to the last, usually approximately 20 times, 20 nails. Once that’s done we cement the lining only, then remove the nails, lift the outside leather so we can place the reinforcements between the outside leather and the lining. Once the heel and toe reinforcements are placed, we add a paste between the two layers to give more structure to the sneaker. We repeat the process of pulling the leather over the last, placing up to 30 nails this time. Once again, we cement the outside leather to the insole and remove the nails. Then, we cement in a cork filler on the bottom of the insole and sand the bottoms to make sure the whole bottom of the sneaker is even.

Finally, we are ready to add the soles. We cement them, then stitch them with our side wall sewing machine. After that, we’re ready to remove the last and the lasting laces. We tape down the threads, insert the footbed, make the new laces and place them, and do a final quality check (there are many checkpoints along the way).

This may seem like dry reading, but actually I tried to simplify and vulgarize the lingo to make sure everyone follows. We’ve made a short film that shows many of the steps involved, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5EobXLU4JU

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We’re a women led business, but that’s not all. We are two women shoemakers, which is not so common in these parts! We work as a team to make all major business decisions, in a pretty organic way.
It’s our fourth year in business, and though it’s felt like baby steps all along the way, when we look back it’s pretty amazing what we’ve achieved so far. We’ve had two successful crowdfunding campaigns and we’ve recently celebrated our Centennial anniversary, which is to say we’ve made over 100 pairs, or 200 shoes, with our own four hands.
We are launching a new sandals style in the next few days and we have aspirations to make a winter boot in the coming year.

It hasn’t always been easy, I think any business person will confess there are many ups and downs. We get through it by taking things slow, going one step at a time, one day at a time. That’s not to say we don’t have a five-year plan – but when things don’t go the way we wanted we take a step back to regroup and start again the following day.

I think we both want the world to know we care. We make each pair with TLC, they’re all part of a bigger plan to have more sustainable products, a happier planet and a society that care about the well-being of others.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh Montreal is such an exciting city to visit, and we have many inside tips (the pandemic may affect these suggestions) :

Evening one : Take a stroll in the Mile End, you can visit our studio and see many other artists and craftspeople at work. You can stop to pick up classic Montreal-style bagels at Fairmount bagels, then queue up for an artisanal ice cream at Kem Coba. Before dinner, take a leisurely stroll up Mont-Royal to get a nice view of the city. For dinner, we recommend Pizzeria Magpie or if you feel like walking a little further, Santa Barbara or Le Super Qualité.

Day 2 : Hop on a bike and meander down to the old port. You can find a nice coffee on the way at Dispatch or Myriade. Once in the old Port, you can admire Habitat 67 and the Five Roses Flour Building. Get back on your bike and ride along the canal to the Atwater market, where you can pick up fresh produce and snacks for a picnic. Get back on your bike and ride west to Lachine, where there is a beautiful peninsula park in which you can lay down your blanket and enjoy your picnic. On your ride back, stop downtown for a visit to the MAC (Museum of Contemporary Arts) or the MBAM (Museum of Fine Arts). You can stop for a 5@7 drink at Le Mal Nécessaire, a cocktail bar in the middle of Chinatown. For dinner, you can either go to Poincarré, for a fermented feast and beer delight, or head to Beijing for a typically delicious Chinatown experience.

Day 3 : Start with brunch on the terrasse at the Pick-up, in the Mile Ex. Then you can walk down St-Laurent in Little Italy, making a stop at Café Italia, for a second coffee and a glass of Orange juice. Meander the isles of Milano, an amazing Italian grocery shop then head over to the Jean-Talon Market, where you can find flowers and maple products. You can also find a mean guacamole at The Rey del Taco;) Take a walk to explore Never Apart, an art gallery in the Mile Ex. You can wander over to Parc Extension and visit the small boutique of hat maker Samatha and her brand Heirloom. You can have a snack and wine at café Denise, then head to Jean-Talon to scope out the endless Indian Food possibilities and find something that suits.
End the day with a stroll around Jarry Park.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We are so grateful to the inspiring Montreal community. We are constantly drawing inspiration from the designers around us, the hat makers, fashion designers, ceramists, woodworkers, jewellers, weavers etc. Pre-pandemic, we often crossed paths in the various fairs and got to exchange about our practices, which sometimes led to collaborations. We still follow each other online for the time being, but we just can’t wait to be hands on again soon.

We also want to give a shout out to Claire Kusy and the Montreal Centre for Fine Craft (CMCM). This is the Montreal hub for leatherwork, we both teach there. Without the support of this community, we couldn’t be where we are now.

Last but not least, we’d like to give a shout out to Quartier Artisan (https://www.quartierartisan.com/), which runs a yearly maker accelerator, based in Lac Mégantic today. This accelerator really gave us the drive to run a business, and also gave us a long term vision of what we’d like that brand to become.

Website: https://www.atelierhotelmotel.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atelierhotelmotel/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atelierHOTELMOTEL

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5EobXLU4JU

Image Credits
Photos 1-6 : Richmond Lam Photos 7-8 (of us the makers) : Josée Lecompte