Manitobah Mukluks have been hitting the (Canadian) news lately, and so I want to spread some love down here in the States -Manitobah Mukluks is headed up by Metis entrepreneur Sean McCormick, who has turned traditional moccasins and mukluks into some pretty cool contemporary footgear.
Founded in 1997, the company started off small - at a trading post in Winnipeg. McCormick traded raw materials (leathers and furs) to First Nations women who brought in their handmade mukluks. Customers, he says, couldn't get enough of them, so he hired some folks and started producing them in-house. Since then, the four-person shop has grown to an operation that employs 50, with a factory and warehouse in Winnipeg and a global sales and marketing office near Ottawa.
McCormick says, "We make a product that's a really cool melding of the past and the present."
As the brand’s popularity expands and its mukluks and moccasins are included in popular fashion magazines, McCormick is not worried about sacrificing authenticity.
"I think it’s really good that an Aboriginal company with Aboriginal staff is making and selling Aboriginal products, rather than a non-Aboriginal company doing it," he explains, noting that there are competitors making a similar product without his company’s connection to the community.
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