Inside Clinch Boots' Tokyo Workshop—Bootmaking + Interview w/ Minoru Matsuura

In the third episode of our SOLE SEARCHING: Tokyo series, I visited the Clinch retail shop to meet with the brand’s founder, Minoru Matsuura.

But just spending time in the store wasn’t enough. For this fourth SOLE SEARCHING episode, I had to go deeper inside Clinch. Which meant going…well, downstairs…to tour the workshop where Clinch boots are made, and learn more about how Minoru evolved a niche shoe repair business into one of Japan’s most coveted handmade boot brands.

Brands/Shops Visited in This Video
Clinch by Brass Tokyo: https://www.brass-tokyo.co.jp/
Stumptown Shibuya: https://www.stumptownjapan.com/
Addict Clothes https://addict-clothes-store.com/coll...

Our Site! You Might Like It.
http://stitchdown.com/

Production: Studio Arkō / @wearearko
Host: Ben Robinson / @stitchdown
Director/Editor/Color: John Jarrett / @_johnjarrett
DOP: Maynard Sabellano / @maynard.sabellano
1st AC: Yune Miyashita / @yune0038
Translators: / @yoshi.yakushiji + @yokohama_menswear

EPISODE CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro
01:07 - Clinch workshop tour
02:26 - Boot lasting + Minoru's origins
08:34 - Welt hand-sewing + how Clinch started
12:46 - Clinch's first boot models
14:15 - Eastern vs Western customers
15:27 - Clinch DITWOL Milne Boots
17:11 - Boot bottoming
20:30 - Sole stitching
21:08 - Heel attachment
22:15 - Boot finishing