null
ALL DUTIES PAID ON INTERNATIONAL ORDERS

Our Heritage

heritage

We're an old company with a young heart. Find out more by watching this film, or explore the timeline below.

Our heritage

1866

William Green begins making shoes in the loft above the Corn Merchants in Rushden, Northamptonshire. At this time shoemaking was done by hand in the houses of outworkers and William would hand out the work by visiting them individually on a daily basis.

1874

As his business grew, he needed to increase production, and machinery had just been introduced so he moved into his first "factory" at Green Yard. This was one of the first factories in the world to use the Goodyear Welted method of shoemaking.

1895

The business had grown enough to require bigger premises and their success was such that they could afford to build a state of the art new factory at the corner of Queen Street and Cromwell Road. This is the factory that they left in 2013 to move to the current factory.

1901

William Green died and the left the business to his son, CAK Green.

1913

The business decided to move with the times by developing a "modern brand name" something that was just becoming fashionable. They took William Green and Sons and shortened it to GRENSON, which became one of the first trade names ever to be registered in the UK.

1914 – 18

Grenson serves its country by producing thousands of boots and shoes for the soldiers of The Great War.

1939 – 45

Once again the company is called into action and makes many shoes and boots for the soldiers, not only of British forces but of the Allied Forces too. Among many styles it develops is a flying boot with a leg that zips off to make running easier in case of being shot down in enemy territory. At this point the factory employs nearly 500 people making shoes.

1950

Heyden Green, the last member of the Green family to be involved with the business, visits America and sees the majority of men wearing soft, comfortable moccasins. He visits India where the best hand-stitching skills are found and begins to make a collection that gives the company a new lease of life during the post war depression.

1960 – 2005

Grenson creates many innovative products such as exotic skin shoes in the 60’s and 70’s, but eventually begins to decline due to the growing number of imports from the far east.

2008

The first ever Grenson shop is opened in Liverpool Street in London.

2010

Tim Little buys out the owners and opens a second store, in Hanbury Street, East London, and an e-commerce website.

2011

Stores such as Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty agree to stock Grenson, kickstarting an expansion into the highest quality wholesale distribution in the world.

 

For the first time in 30 years, the Grenson Women's collection is launched.

2012

An apprenticeship scheme is started to bring new blood into the factory.

2013

The factory moves for the first time since William Green moved into Queen Street in 1895. The new factory is modern, warm, clean and efficient, signalling its future as a modern business.

The Grenson:LAB programme is started where customers can customise their own shoes. It begins with a launch at Liberty in London.

2014

Two new stores are opened in Soho and Bloomsbury and the iconic "Triple Welt" is launched.

2015

The first ever overseas shop is secured in New York, with a launch date of January 2016.

 

2016

The Grenson 150th anniversary was marked by a series of events and an "Archive Collection" of shoes that are painstakingly reproduced from the originals. They cover many decades of Grenson shoemaking.

2017

Grenson opens its 6th store on London's Jermyn Street.

2018

Grenson launches new accessories, including its first signature fragrance called Grenson 66, a watch collection and dog accessories handmade in the Grenson factory.

2019

Grenson introduced The London Collection and continued projects with Craig Green and Henry Holland.

2020

Grenson introduced The Vegan Collection.

2021

Grenson supplied shoes for Simon Stallard’s The Hidden Hut while cooking for the G7 Summit.

Grenson Launch the Rubberised collection.

2022

Grenson Introduced the Tech Pack. A collection of shoes with specific features on them that make them more fit for purpose.
 
Grenson held a press week for the new collection at Sessions House in Farringdon, London.
 
Grenson Collaborated on a boot with Kelly Harrington and made a boot made of unused scraps of Denim from Black Horse Lane.
 
When Russia Invaded the Ukraine, Grenson made a limited run of 100 pairs of Sneaker ‘66’ in the Ukrainin flag colours, where 100% of the profits went to UNHCR to help Ukrainian Refugees, in the end donating £25,000.  
 
Grenson Collaborated on a boot with Flower studio - Kitten Grayson Flowers.
 
Grenson Continues to work with Craig Green.

2023

Grenson introduced the Waterproof Collection.

Grenson collaborated with Billy Tannery on a boot made from Goat skins.

Grenson collaborated on a shoe using Cloudwool by Doppelhaus.

Grenson Sneaker 51 became well known for appearing on Ncuti Gatwa in the new Doctor Who series.

2024

Grenson celebrated the Triple Welt’s 10 year anniversary.

 

Grenson begins partnership with Emilia Wickstead in creating their first collaborative loafer which makes its debut at their AW24 show.

Grenson sneakers and boots continued to feature in Doctor Who.

Grenson launched their Back On The Road initiative.

Grenson released their first welted waterproof collection.

Grenson brought back the Grenson Social by hosting another Stand Up in Grenson for Stand Up To Cancer for customers in their Lamb’s Conduit Street shop.

Grenson and Isaac McHale from The Clove Club release the long awaited Chef Shoe.

Grenson continues to work with Craig Green who designs his own version of Grenson’s iconic Triple Welt which is first unveiled at his AW24 show.

follow our story