About


Made in Raglan, since 1973

 In 1973 Rob Galloway made his first pair of shoes: a pair of hand stitched sheepskin boots. He tried his hand at sandals next which soon his family and friends wanted, and so Soul Shoes was born…

Rob is still in the workshop every day over 40 years later! Throughout this time we have built up a reputation for the quality of our workmanship, uniqueness of our designs, use of traditional methods and of course for just how long lasting our shoes, bags and belts are.

We often have people telling us about their shoes and bags they’re still wearing after 10, 20, 30 years and how they remember wearing our shoes to school. We’re proud to be a part of many people’s memories and life stories. Lots of kiwis know us but we also send shoes to Australia, UK, Europe, America and all over the world!

We have gone from selling on Whangamata Beach to shops all over the country to where we are now at Raglan’s Wharf. We offer lots of great options on our website but for something extra special come for a visit to Raglan and choose from our selection of unique and unusual hides.

We source only the best quality cow hides; our NZ leather comes from Tasman Tanneries in Whanganui, New Zealand and our genuine vegetable tanned leather comes from Tuscany, Italy. We go personally to the tanneries (even in Italy!) and select the best and most interesting hides for our products because we care about every step of the process.

The first pairs of Soul Shoes were made with recycled car tyre soles and we have stayed mindful of the environment. We offer the option of 100% recycled conveyor belt soles and support sustainability by creating products that will last. We also use recycled shoe boxes for our orders, donated by the Raglan community-box drop offs always welcome!

We promise that every pair of shoes, bag, belt, wallet and purse is made by hand, from start to finish with care and attention by one our experienced craftsmen-very possibly Rob himself!