The shoe industry balances on the border between craft and refined art. You can see this very clearly in Eperon d’Or. Izegem has been known for years as the Belgian shoe city par excellence. The stamp ‘Chaussure d’Iseghem’ used to be a sought-after label and the city owes much of its wealth to the shoe industry.

In Eperon d’Or we outline the story of that industry. In the unique building we showcase a colourful series of fine masterpieces, such as the boots of King William I or the enchanting handicraft from the Eperon d’Or line. And in the underlying factory hall you can see from a complete production line how shoes were made in the 1950s. Elsewhere you get acquainted with ray, toad and even chicken leg leather and many other kinds of leather. After the tour, you’ll never confuse fake leather with real leather again.

Of course, we also pay attention to the human side of it all: the transition from manual labour to mechanisation, the workers’ stories, the jargon and the factory life.