We make our shoes in Léon, Mexico, a city that lies near the heart of Mexico and is often referred to as "The Shoe Capital of the World.” Léon boasts a rich leather working industry dating back hundreds of years with family owned tanneries. Shoemaking became a part of Léon’s local industry 1645, as local cobblers and shoemakers passed their craftsmanship on to each succeeding generation.
Our shoes are made at Gran Barón, a decades-old small factory in the heart of Léon that was started by single mom Nadia Ceseña who now runs the operation with her husband Ernesto. Gran Barón offers the level of generational knowledge and skill of the city, employing a team of 15 accomplished shoemakers who specialize in traditional construction techniques, including the stitchdown method used to create each pair of our footwear. The company values attention to detail and high quality, living wages, as well as flexibility in terms of design. They love to combine their traditional knowledge with innovative styles and ideas - which was crucial to our partnership, since our team is comprised of seasoned shoemakers.
Most shoe companies throw a drawing at a factory and aren’t involved again until they see the final product; DAVINCI designers, however, are acutely involved in the process at Gran Barón. We design our shoes, make our own samples, and work closely with the Gran Barón manufacturing team in order to arrive at the best shoe.
We micromanage every aspect of each shoe, ensuring we receive the highest quality. All our leather is cut by hand to ensure we’re using the best parts of the hide, and the rubber for our soles, made from recycled coconut husk, is created specifically for DAVINCI through a small rubber sole manufacturer, our cotton wax laces are made by the best textile manufacturer in the region, and we source our thread from one of the finest thread-makers in Léon.
Our leather is custom-made and tanned for us as per our specifications in terms of colors and appropriate thickness; even the leather for our midsoles is custom-made for us according to the desired flexibility and durability. At Gran Barón, after months of trial and error and hundreds of samples later, these custom-made aspects are expertly welded together to create the DAVINCI shoe, a product that we are proud to put our name on.