Behind the Scenes at Rios of Mercedes

Recently our team had the chance to go down to south Texas and visit the good people at Rios of Mercedes. The trip was an opportunity to design exclusive boots for The Texas Boot Company and meet with the people who handcraft one of the many brands in our boot collection.

While we were there I had countless conversations about quality, comfort, colors and trends, but the story worth telling is the one about the people behind your boots. At The Texas Boot Company, when we say a boot is handmade, we mean it. These materials are taken by the hands of people who’ve perfected their trade and they’ve used them to make beautiful boots time after time.

Here’s a few behind the scenes photos (and a pretty impressive video) at Rios of Mercedes earlier this month. Hopefully it’ll illustrate the boot making process in a way you’ve never been able to see it.

This is a boot that Marc designed. We’re changing the piping on the original to match the white on the eagle, and then, instead of Goat Skin, we’re adding a distressed Grey Hornback Crocodile for the vamp. Often other boots that we admire serve as a source of inspiration, and its just a matter of making a few changes or using an exotic hide.

Trainor Evans, one of the owners of Rios of Mercedes and Anderson Bean talks about the Channel Welt process that both the Rios and Anderson Bean team use in their boot construction. Trainor was a friend of Sam Lucchese, Jr.; he was originally one of Sam’s suppliers, and Sam taught Trainor the art of making handmade boots. Above and below.

One of the Rios bootmakers is turning out a boot. These skilled craftsman sew the boot together piece by piece inside out, and then use a very modern device to turn the boot right side out. Note the “modern device” is fashioned out of a stirrup and a leather strap!

Trainer is showing us which part of the hides are used to make different parts of the boot. You can see the passion that he has for the business of making a very, very good product. We were amazed to learn how much care goes into a Rios boot and an Anderson Bean boot. The Rios and Anderson Bean teams are more concerned about getting the right cuts from the hide for the right part of the boot than they are about getting as many cuts from a hide as they can. There are only certain parts of a calf or goat skin that stretch – the belly. As Trainor says “the belly of an animal will stretch during good times and contract during bad, and its this part of the animal that we want to stretch to the instep of your foot or contract to grip your foot” Calfskin, we learned, will actually contract around your foot!

This Calfskin has some stretch to it!

Nicole is learning from the experts how to cut a top.

We posted the following video on our Facebook page of a gentleman who has worked with Trainor for over 47 years! He’s definitely a skilled craftsman!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=828872277152400

The Rios of Mercedes and Anderson Bean teams make their boots with a little more time; OK, a LOT more time, and a whole lot more passion than any machine ever could. Hats off to Trainor Evans, Pat Moody, Ryan Vaughn and the rest of the team down in Mercedes, Texas! We sure enjoyed our visit, and we hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as you enjoy their boots!