The legacy of the Maxeco boot from Lemaitre
Published: 25th Mar 2021
Historical exterior view of Bagshaw in Port Elizabeth, one of the oldest footwear factories in South Africa, where the Maxeco boot was born. These photos were probably taken in the 1930s, LONG before the Maxeco.
An early version of the Maxeco. Comfort and durability have remained unchanged.
Pinetown, KZN, SA - The Lemaitre Maxeco - now part of the BBF Safety Group's footwear range - has shod generations of South African workers over the last 30 years, and almost 10 million pairs have been produced - a very rare achievement in this country.
Every legacy has to start somewhere. It’s a story based on the recollections of Cedric Novis, at that time innovation manager at Bolton Footwear, which included Bagshaw Footwear in Port Elizabeth:
“In the late 80s, Bagshaw Footwear successfully bid on an 18-station dual density direct injection machine at an auction in Babelegi, even though we had very little knowledge on dual density footwear. We had a very strong range of military footwear, but now had to consider how best to utilise this machine. After much consultation it was agreed to introduce dual density to the safety footwear market – a first in South Africa.
“We decided that we needed to manufacture under licence, and contacts at the SABS pointed us in the direction of a French company which had expressed interest in the South African market. It was during the first half of 1990 that we initially went to Lemaitre, in Strasbourg, and met with the MD and founder Jean-Michel Heckel. Our meetings culminated in a signed licensing agreement for Lemaitre safety footwear.
“We decided to position the brand as European styled, technologically advanced and comfortable; and went to market with the premise of ‘Why you deserve to wear a better safety boot.’ It was a great campaign and something that the industry had never done before. It worked and the workforce started to demand the Lemaitre Maxeco which was the only model we launched. You could have them in any colour you wanted, as long as it was black or tan!
“The focus on the people actually wearing the boots is still central to the Lemaitre brand in South Africa today. In hindsight, we introduced the right product at the right time at the right price and managed to launch possibly the most successful selling safety shoe of all time in the South African market.”
And hence the Lemaitre Maxeco was introduced towards the end of 1990 – the first ever locally produced direct injection dual density PU sole on a safety footwear style.
Historical interior and exterior views of Bagshaw in Port Elizabeth, one of the oldest footwear factories in South Africa, where the Maxeco boot was born. These photos were probably taken in the 1930s, LONG before the Maxeco.
Footwear Industry Articles
- Manufacturer-buyer event: Results still to be tallied, but broad enthusiasm for more
The 2-day Retail Buyer Engagement & Manufacturer Onboarding Programme on 01 and 02 July was part of an effort to kickstart the R-CTFL Masterplan – which, from a footwear perspective at least, has appeared stalled.It was sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and implemented through the R-CTFL Masterplan Footwea ...moreVermont sale completedJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA – After 39 years, former owner Mandy Owen has sold her shares in Vermont Leathercraft Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd to Creek Lab (Pty) Ltd, and officially handed over the business to Prashant Bhaga.In a message on LinkedIn, she wrote: “I would like to thank my husband, Graham, for his invaluable contributio ...moreManufacturer-buyer event: Among the manufacturer comments
The 2-day Retail Buyer Engagement & Manufacturer Onboarding Programme on 01 and 02 July was part of an effort to kickstart the R-CTFL Masterplan – which, from a footwear perspective at least, has appeared stalled.It was sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and implemented through the R-CTFL Masterplan Footwea ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- LEATHER’S ELEMENTARY UNIT
Geoff Attenburrow’s PhD student David M. Wright worked on the behaviour of leather under strain (Attenburrow, 1993; Wright, 1996). They were the first to describe that leather had a “co-operating unit”, a set of structures within leather that helped the leather to resist breaking and to resist deformation at low strain.T ...moreSam Setter's 'Pills': Over and AgainThe EU announced that hides and skins could be removed from the EUDR directive's deforestation commodities. Could! Last month, like many others, I thought that the decision had been taken, but that doesn’t seem to be correct. The final decision will be taken after public feedback. Yeah, you read this right: after public feedback. As ...moreDavid Buirski retires (but we’re sure to hear more from him)
David Buirski, the former South African who edited World Leather from 1993 to 2005, and who continued his involvement with the publication and its offshoots until recently, has finally retired because “having turned 90 last December, I guess it was the sensible thing to do. Thirty-three years could be considered a long time.&rd ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- New OHS regulations coming into force later this year mean PPE needs to be reviewed, too
In March 2025, the Physical Agents Regulations (and their guidelines) and the Noise Exposure Regulations (and their guidelines) of the OHSAct were published, with an 18-month time-period promulgation date to September 2026, allowing employers time to upgrade their Health & Safety requirements to comply with the new published regulatio ...moreRealPPE Marketplace: Where safety meets smarter procurementRealPPE Marketplace is a 100% black women-owned B2B PPE marketplace built for South African industry. Founded after years of witnessing safety officers and procurement teams lose time to fragmented suppliers, inconsistent pricing, and missing documentation, RealPPE was created to bring structure and reliability to industrial PPE sourcing. ...moreWhat if the respirator you rely on to protect your health never sealed properly?
I had the opportunity to present at the first PPE Conference in RSA, where I shared some early work we) have been exploring towards developing respirator designs better suited to the South African population.Below is a short AI-generated summary of the core message of the presentation.Respirators are often the last line of defence against ...more
© S&V Publications
