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Berlin, WI - Elmer Schmid has been working at the same gouged and stained wooden bench going on 47 years, and it was old when he first sat down to it. No sense making hasty changes. At the W.C. Russell Moccasin Co., they use tens of thousands of file cards, not computers, to keep track of individual customers' insteps, bunions and foot measurements. The chairs in the fitting area have been around since at least the '50s. The 6-foot-high safe dates to the early 1900s. The stitching machinery in the shop looks like it could have turned out uniforms for the Spanish-American War. And Schmid, at 80 the dean of the firm's leatherworkers, still follows the centuries-old practice of shoemakers by storing nails where they'll be handy - in his mouth. Not just between his lips; inside his mouth, eight or nine at a time, until he spits them out rapid fire as needed. He says he's never swallowed one. Some businesses embrace constant change. Russell embraces constancy. The company's boots and shoes, popular both with big-game hunters in Africa and fashion-conscious young men in Tokyo, are still made much as they were when Russell opened in 1898. That means moccasin-style construction that cradles the foot in a hammock-like vamp rather than the more common practice of sewing each side of the upper to the sole. "It hasn't changed," said president Ralph Fabricius, 79, known throughout the 35-employee, family-owned firm by the nickname he's carried since childhood, "Lefty." "Still have to do the same process." Which means a ton of hand work that yields custom-made footwear sought by the likes of former President George H.W. Bush, actor Harrison Ford, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, country music star George Strait and the king of Nepal, who years ago wanted a boot that would protect him from the snakes on his golf course. The boots typically run $300 to $400 a pair - more for, say, French veal or ostrich, or if you want Schmid and his co-workers to use the hide of the elephant you shot last year in Namibia. 50 pairs a day But when you're stalking wary game, you're tired, you're sore and the weather's miserable, said California attorney Henry Roux, "there is no question Russell boots are the best in the world." Roux, 58, has hunted in Africa, Mexico, Russia, Alaska and all over the U.S. He's worn Russells for about 30 years, owns four pairs and swears to their fit, durability and comfort. "It feels kind of like you're walking around the mountain in slippers," he said. They turn out all of 40 to 50 pairs of these things a day at Russell's little factory near downtown Berlin, which foreign customers understandably mispronounce Ber-LIN. The town used to bill itself as the "Fur and Leather Capital," with a half-dozen manufacturers producing coats, gloves and boots. Today, Russell and safety-glove maker Safeguard America are all that's left. But Russell's business has remained remarkably stable. Production pretty much hovers around 10,000 to 12,000 pairs a year. The demand is there for more - one wholesaler would take 30% of Russell's output if he were allowed, Fabricius said. But it's hard enough now to find good hand sewers, and there's nothing about Russell's operation, from the battered workbenches in the shop to the near-antique wooden file drawers in the office, that suggests an appetite for aggressive expansion. Besides, virtually without trying, the company has gone beyond its high-end hunting niche to become an admired name in the fashion world. For this, much of the credit goes to the Japanese. 
Glossy mags Russell has sold hunting boots in Japan for three decades. But a few years ago, young people there seized on Russell and other traditional American clothing makers strictly on the basis of style. Designers started showing up at Russell's humble factory. The company's footwear started getting mentioned in glossy Japanese fashion magazines such as Popeye, and on street-wear Web sites such as www.freshnessmag.com and www.highsnobiety.com. The U.S. is following Japan in a trend toward well-made, classic clothing, Highsnobiety founder David Fischer said via e-mail. "The Japanese go out and hunt down the best there is, in terms of both quality and history, and in that case Russell Moccasin of course comes to mind," he said. Poe Hwang, managing editor of Freshness, said Russell has benefited from the interest of brand-savvy Japanese consumers in seeking out "foreign labels that resonate great quality and impeccable craftsmanship, even if that label is new and / or virtually unknown." All this is felt in Berlin. File cards with the foot measurements of Japanese customers who ordered custom-made boots used to be lumped with those of all overseas customers. Now they have their own drawer. "The Japanese like old-time American companies, and the older the better," Fabricius said. "We have a customer who called one time from France, and he says, 'I know you sell a lot of shoes in Japan because when they get off the airplanes I see they're wearing Russell.' " That trend probably will end. Most trends do. And one day Elmer Schmid won't be here anymore. Same for his 73-year-old brother, Marvin, who keeps Russell's stitching machinery in good repair and has worked here since 1955. But difficult as it might be to find them, there are others who can step in. Hmong-Americans have been a good fit in the vital hand-sewing jobs, and Asian music now can be heard playing softly at some of the workbenches. As for demand, Fabricius isn't worried. Retailer J. Crew will soon offer a couple of Russell styles. The J. Peterman Co., a catalog firm well known to "Seinfeld" viewers, recently picked up the Oneida, a moccasin once worn by workers on dirigibles. And Russell's main customers remain hunters, many of them willing to spend thousands on a rifle or a hunting trip. It seems unlikely they'll stop wanting $400 footwear specially made to fit the curve of their arches and width of their heels. "I think there will always be a market for custom boots," Fabricius said. http://www.jsonline.com/business/41268912.html
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