Our Story
Bleather, a dream came true...
THE DREAM
Ever since I was a little boy, my dream was to become like my grandfather. He was a grand master craftsman in the old medina of Fez. He used to get up very early each morning to go to his workshop. I always noticed the big smile on his face when he was surrounded by the sheets of leather. His passion for this noble material was surely reflected in his very kind and generous behavior with his customers from all over the world, which allowed him to build very solid friendships with them. When talking about leather, my grandpa was always talking with passion and… just, love. A love that I inherited and, sure enough, had pushed me to change my engineering career and create my own shoe brand : Bleather.
THE ENCOUNTER
It has all started with a common passion. We can say that Bleather's story begun with two colleagues who had nothing in common except their love for leather in general and shoes in particular.
I'm Abdelhadi, a citizen of the world, born and raised in Morocco, and of course a shoes enthusiast.
Alfred, my work colleague, an English engineer from Northampton coming from a family of shoemakers from father to son.
Alfred and I worked together in an aeronautics company in France and usually always noticed when one of us had a new pair of dress shoes. Quickly, our lunch breaks turned into into long discussions around the shoemaking industry, which almost always ended with a sigh of frustration because we never were able to find great shoes with amazing details at a correct pricing.
The love of shoes craftmanship running in our veins, we decided to leave our jobs and embark on an adventure where we will quench our thirst for quality shoes.
STARTING LINE
Full of excitement and emotions, we bought our plane tickets and headed to Morocco.
We visited the old medinas of Fez and Marrakech, which were our source of inspiration. We met with craftsmen, who encouraged us to start this adventure. We were able to gather the necessary leather know-how.
After 3 months of hard work, we moved to Northampton, to complete the image of our very first line of shoes. We toured the factories and workshops with our specifications.
We managed to sign a contract with one of the largest and most reputable shoe factories in the region, who believed in Bleather after seeing the quality and uniqueness of our designs.
Our goal was to combine the best of Morocco, where leather craftsmanship is a way of life, with the best of England, which is a world reference in the design and manufacture of luxury shoes.
The concept we came up with was simple:
- Make shoes with unique styles.
- Offer the best quality/price ratio.
The sketches materialize into shoes that form the very first collection of the brand.
Our very first shoe collection was a great success in the UK market. We were out of stock in less than 15 days with more than 500 pairs sold. Our customers love our products and this has validated the concept of Bleather.
COVID-19 ATTACK
A few months later… COVID-19 attacks. I had to return to Morocco to support my family. While being there, I got to see how the crisis had a tremendous impact on the craftmanship and I had to help somehow. So, I decided to work on relocating some of our manufacturing to Morocco. I went around the factories in the kingdom and realized that my objective will not be easily achieved. The lack of professionalism in the industry was my biggest obstacle. At the same time, I saw the enormous potential of Moroccan craftsmen who have a sharp know-how and manufacturing techniques which even the oldest English craftsmen do not use! I decide to go for it and invest more to add the Moroccan touch to Bleather shoes.
5 months in, 30% of the production of our shoes got relocated to Morocco.
Since then, Bleather has successfully entered the Moroccan market, then the French market. In less than a year, sales made in Morocco and France combined represent more than 55% of the brand's turnover.
Unfortunetly, confronted to great challenges and being forced to face our divergent strategic visions of the brand, Alfred and I decided to part our ways. I took Alfred's shares and became the sole owner of Bleather.
NEW PARTNERSHIP, NEW START
In 2021, I got to meet Marouane, an entrepreneur from Casablanca who also believed in Bleather. Being impressed with Bleather's fast growth and especially sharing the same values and love for shoes as me, he expressed his wish to join me in my adventure and I gladly accepted.
Currently, our goal is to relocate everything to Morocco as soon as possible and to further improve the quality of our shoes. We are moving slowly but surely. We are currently at 40% production in Morocco and 60% in England.
We are also aiming for global expansion into the rest of the international market, starting with the United States. We want all men to have the opportunity to wear high quality shoes at a fair price.
Now, in 2022, Bleather is better than ever, and we've overcome every obstacle we've encountered in the path. Bleather will soon be in the position it deserves, next to the world's leading shoe brands.
