The $145 (£108) dress shoes Donald Trump is said to have “fallen in love” with are made by a Jewish-founded firm established by the son of an immigrant cobbler in 1882.
Trump’s footwear of choice has become a talking point in Washington, with the US president said to have sent pairs of Florsheim shoes, to “agency heads, lawmakers, White House advisers and VIPs” including vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and secretary of war Pete Hegseth.
First reported by the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s Florsheim fixation has become the source of both intrigue and amusement – not least because of the shoes’ relatively affordable price tag. But while the company is being touted as a classic US brand, its roots are, in fact, distinctly Jewish.
Founded in by Milton Florsheim, the son of a Chicago-based cobbler – one of countless Jewish shoemaking immigrants – the brand adopted a slogan in its early years unlikely to win over Trump today: “The aspiration shoe for the average guy”.
An advertisement published in 1902 championed Florsheim shoes for their comfort and style, explaining: “The Florsheim shoe has style and character. Correct anatomical fit and enjoys long life, same as the made-to-order kind that costs you $8 to $12…The Florsheim shoe costs $5 per pair everywhere.”
The brand became a Jewish-American success story and by 1920 it had yearly sales of $10 million and 48 retail stores in operation. Its single factory expanded to five, and by the middle of the decade it had some 2,500 employees, a network of 71 retail outlets and roughly 9,000 dealers.
Come the Great Depression, it was Milton Florsheim’s sons, Irving and Harold, who kept the company afloat, though family broiguses ensued. The company kitted out US soldiers in both world wars, while one of Trump’s predecessors, Harry Truman also donned a pair. Later, so did Michael Jackson, who performed his famous moonwalk in a trusty pair of Florsheim loafers.
In 2002, after half a century of external ownership and internal turbulence, the brand was bought out of bankruptcy by footwear company Weyco Group – which was headed by Milton Florsheim’s grandson Thomas Florsheim Sr and his sons, Thomas Jr and John.
“When it finally happened, all I can remember is how scared I was,” Thomas Jr Fleisham told the New York Times in 2007. “All of a sudden, we had the Florsheim name back. Now we had to make it mean something again. I was happy; I was scared.”
The brand’s heritage appeal proved a draw to younger consumers, though Fleisham devotees apparently span a multitude of age groups and demographics.
Detailing his sartorial preferences in the Mail on Sunday in 2010, Madness frontman Suggs named Florsheim Shoes as his preferred footwear, enthusing: “Their wingtip brogues are great, as well as the loafers,” he enthused.
The fictitious ad man Don Draper, portrayed by Jon Hamm also wore a pair of black Florsheim lace ups in Mad Men.
Trump, 79, reportedly gravitated to the dress shoes last year when he was on the hunt for comfortable footwear. Although he will undoubtedly view himself as a sartorial trailblazer, Marco Rubio pre-empted him by over a decade in this respect: The US secretary of state, who competed against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, was ridiculed after wearing $135 heeled Florsheim boots at a New Hampshire campaign stop.
When news that the leader of the free world favoured Florsheim Shoes, it didn’t appear to knock the socks off Thomas Jr, who told the Wall Street Journal he was unaware of the president’s shoe orders and did not wish to comment further.
While few might wish to be in Trump’s shoes at the moment – figuratively speaking – it appears that Florsheim is experiencing a boost in sales thanks to the president’s unofficial endorsement. Users attempting to access the company’s website today were greeted by a message informing them that the service was unavailable and was either “overloaded or under maintenance”.
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