Katie Reed is a cobbler and the owner of Sole Survivor, located at 16 Kensington Avenue, where she repairs shoes and other leather goods. We appreciate her obvious enjoyment of her trade. She seems to relish the construction of a well made shoe, describing an item made with care and of quality material to be "more poetic" to repair than a plastic and pressed-paper Payless special.
Finding someone to teach her the trade was difficult, and she feels lucky to have apprenticed in Hamilton with Bijan Mirzagaah, with additional training from Robert Land in Guelph (who incidentally makes lovely shoes for historical reenactments). Katie chooses to repair rather than create new leather goods, explaining that the world is cluttered enough and her aim is to give a second life to otherwise useless items. We may be romanticizing Katie's life, but we're pretty envious of the road she has chosen.
love her principles.
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