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As the son of a master cobbler, the firm’s founder, Jordi Coll, was very young when he began working in the shoe factories of Inca, Majorca, and learning the art of traditional gentleman’s shoemaking. After years of training, he decided to try his luck with the creation of his own family business: George’s.

A lover of the American moccasin and English style, two of the central features of the firm’s designs, he would pass the reins of the company on to his two children, Jorge and Aurora. Yet the generational change-over has not affected the core values of this artisan firm, which combines tradition, passion and quality with innovation without losing the preppy air that has marked a very successful career.

George’s was born in 1967, although its origins go back much further.
That’s right, the history of George’s is a family story that started with our grandfather, the Master Mateo, who made shoes to order from home. My father, Jordi Coll, started from the very bottom in Inca. Initially as an errand boy, and later learning the art of artisan shoemaking. He soon realised that shoemaking was his thing and he began studying pattern design. He started by making clean copies of the designers patterns and later he began showing his own designs to factories in the area. That was the beginning of the family business that would come into being years later.
He worked as a freelancer for different companies for years. In those days, craftsmen were familiar with all aspects of the trade, even going from door to door to sell their collections. Towards the end of the 60s, he and a partner decided to take the leap and that’s how George’s was born.

Your father was something of a pioneer in his time...
Yes, I think you could say that to a certain extent. Now he would probably be called a coolhunter. Back then, he just knew that he wanted to create a product that was different, something that wasn’t available on the island that would set him apart. He travelled throughout Europe and when he came back, he knew the route he wanted to take: he would launch the American moccasin with a British touch.
Fortunately we have a significant museum collection. We are gradually reorganising that legacy, particularly now that moccasins and the preppy look are back in fashion again.

Why did you opt for designs with a British air when you were in Inca, the home of artisan Spanish footwear?
My father travelled throughout Europe and he came back from his travels with fresh ideas and original proposals. The firm’s British air was undoubtedly something that differentiated it in the Majorcan market. Even our logo was an English flag to begin with, inspired by one of my father’s trips to London. In the 90s we decided to refine it and we abandoned that image in order to pay tribute to our grandfather, the Master Mateo.

What was the company like back then?
Small, yet like one big family; we still have craftsmen working with us who have been with the company for more than 30 years. My father surrounded himself with professionals who knew how to do everything within the company, very technical in their own way, but with very obvious trades.
My father had one thing very clear: for him quality and the hand-made methods he had learned from his father were more important that the number of shoes he made. He always knew that he wanted to make products that would remind him of his childhood, adapting all of the new ideas he got on his travels, while maintaining our grandfather’s manufacturing processes.
We basically continue to make classics and basics, but through our own lines. My father always designed using a last and never using a pattern; that is something that I have inherited.

If you had to define the company with just one word, what would it be?
Without a doubt, authentic.

And how does one become authentic?
The most important thing is that your raw materials are of the best possible quality. It is impossible to achieve perfect, well-proportioned lines if you use second-rate materials. We are lucky that my brother is the technical one in the family and he is very good at translating the lines I design.
We do not have standard pieces. Each model has a history of its own, with a specific last, a specific heel and specific materials. We have a base, which depends on the style of the last and we adapt it as fashion demands.