The Van Dal factory in Norwich opened in 1918 and specialised in making womens shoes out of materials like leather, kid and snakeskin. In the 1920s they also began to specialise in brocade and reptile skin-women didn't go out to work so they didn't need endurance shoes like men. The factory was mainly run by men who made the actual shoe and cut the material-women stayed at home doing the finer, detailed work on the shoes. They became huge and exported globally.
Start-rite opened in Norwich in 1792! but only started making children's shoes in 1918. They were the first to measure children's feet in width and length to make sure they got the right shoe size. and also invented the supportive V-heel to make sure childrens feet were properly supported.
Van Dal in 1964 employed thousands of workers and made 30,000 pairs oof shoes a week. As industry progressed they began to ship parts out to China and have the shoes made there as it was cheaper. However they were seent back to Norwich to have the soles put in so they could still say they were made in Norwich.
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