Shoemaking craft lives on in Paris, $4,000 a pair

By Alexandra Steigrad

PARIS (Reuters) - For 60 years, Raymond Massaro has been living and breathing fashion.

Carrying on a business started by his grandfather 114 years ago, the Parisian makes shoes for the rich and famous, as well as for fashion house Chanel.

Massaro, whose shoes fetch 3,000 euros ($4,000) a pair, takes pride in the traditions of his craft, even using the old pedal-operated sewing machines from his father's era.

"Why am I still doing this? It's not a question of money," said Massaro, 78. "It's a question of passion."

But it hasn't always been that way.

"When I was young, I didn't want to be a shoemaker," he said. "My father was a shoemaker, his three brothers were shoemakers and my grandfather was a shoemaker, I wanted to do something else. My father made me become a shoemaker, but I thank him every morning."

Massaro had hoped to be a professor of French or history.

"But I am doing a kind of history. I've reconstructed the shoes of Napoleon. I've redone the shoes of Louis XIV and I've made a mould for Pope John Paul II. It's a little bit of history. I do it my way."

Massaro has maintained the standards that came before him.

"Everything is hand made," he said, smoothing out the wrinkles of his white laboratory coat. "A shoemaker's work is to achieve perfection."

"We are really craftsmen. The business is only 10 people. Everything is done here," he said pointing to the backroom where the workshop is located.

"The head of the workshop has been with us more than 30 years. Once someone starts working here, they don't leave. It's the guarantee of good work. We're a tight-knit team."

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FOOTWEAR

Massaro's staff turn out about 1,500 pairs of shoes a year, 150 of which are for Chanel. But with such craftsmanship that his 3,000 regular clients believe the price is well worth it.

While Massaro has made shoes for the Kennedy family, Elizabeth Taylor and the Duchess of Windsor, he said his biggest challenge was understanding why someone was willing to spend such a large sum of money on footwear.