Lucchese Bootmaker Factory, just a few blocks from the El Paso International Airport, is home to the finest world-famous Texas made boots. Not a small shop by any stretch of the imagination, housing 2 – 3 million dollars in various animal skins, an enormous assortment of specialty boot making equipment and a seasoned crew of amazing bootmaker’s churning out hundreds of boots a day. Many of these craftsmen and craftswomen have worked here for most of their adult lives, a family dedicated to creating the perfect boot day in and day out.
In 1883 Salvatore and Joseph Lucchese founded Lucchese Bootmaker’s at Fort Sam Houston, a United States Cavalry School in San Antonio, Texas. Immigrants from Italy and sons of a shoemaker, they arrived by ship, which sailed from Palermo, Italy in 1882 and they wasted no time setting up shop. 100 years later, in June of 1986, the Lucchese’s announce they will move its operations from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas.
Each Lucchese boot goes through 50 assorted steps and is touched by over 100 hands before reaching the store shelf. Custom orders can take 6 – 8 weeks to produce and are made by hand by craftsman Fidel Rodriquez, a custom bootmaker with over 40 years of experience. Lucchese boots are made to last a lifetime and if they need repair, the craftsmen at Lucchese can do a complete rebuild of your boots to bring them back to new condition.
Their customers are loyal and famous, some boots are even passed on to sons and daughters, and Lucchese Bootmaker Boots are found on feet around the world. You will find Lucchese boots on the Dallas Cheerleaders, the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and ex-governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willie Nelson, and President George Bush, just to drop a few names.
The Lucchese Bootmaker factory does not offer public tours but I was fortunate enough to experience one during my last trip to El Paso, Texas as part of a media trip I was experiencing. Such an impressive experience to see how these fine boots are made, the dedication to making the best of the best, the modern innovations mixed with time-tested techniques produced with 100-year-old equipment, listening to the chatter of the stitching and cutting, smoothing and finishing of these made in Texas boots.
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Full disclosure,
Destination El Paso Tourism hosted Never to Old To Travel for a 3-day tour of El Paso, Texas. with no stipulations. All thoughts and opinions in this article are my own.
I would like to know if you conduct tours and when, of your boots mfg. if so can you buy boots from your company? Can you get customs boots made?
Hi Kenneth, I personally do not have any relationship with Lucchese Bootmakers to answer your question about the current status of their tours and suggest you contact them directly. I can say with certainty that they do offer custom boots and do a spectacular job of it too. Again, please contact them directly, link is in the article ~ Gary
My daughter bought me my first pair of lucchese for Xmas and I am ecstatic I absolutely love them I’m looking to purchase myself a short pair ty. For such wonderful workmanship..