The footwear was made from various high-quality leather. The most basic shoes worn by artisans and farmers were made of heavy, thick cowhide.
The Novgorod culture layer from the 11th to 13th century has symmetrical shoes with narrow heels. They also found shoes that have patterns, such as curly or parallel lines.
Shoe Craftsmanship
Archeologists found a number of pairs [lapti] of shoes with various ornaments during the excavation of villages from medieval times in Russia’s north-east. The most common were embroidering and leather stamping. The peasants would wear the shoes on a daily basis. They were adorned with a lace that tightened the ankle. encircled the ankle and a sole that was attached.
In order to make one lapti, a person needed seven pieces of bast 2 meters in length each. For such strips, it was required to strip the bark off the entire trunk of the linden, without imperfections. The ancient Russians used this metaphor: to stripe the bark like a tree.
Different regions have their own ways of creating lapti. The Moscow ones were a bit high on the ankle, while those from the Northern areas were low with pointed toes. Winter lapti were created using two layers of bast.
The shoemakers of Novgorod began to decorate their shoes around the 12th century with the carving of leather and woolen thread. The patterns used included a range of combinations of triangles, crosses, and the zigzags.
Leather Shoe Production
Literature has paid scant attention to the art of shoemaking throughout medieval Novgorod. This could be due to the extremely limitedness of the archeological materials which are the primary source for studying this subject.
Shoes of all kinds were discovered all kinds of shoes were found on Novgorod archeological sites. They are from the 10th to 14th centuries. A thick, robust cowhide was used for the simplest shoes without any decoration and were designed for the broad strata of the populace (artisans and peasants). Leather that was thinner and more soft was used for openwork-embroidered footwear.
Stamped designs on the surface of the leather were created using the techniques of embroidery or carving on leather. These were curly designs as well as rows of parallel lines or cross-over lines, and floral patterns. The most sought-after design for openwork footwear was a pair of stylized flowers.
The shoes were also embellished with other embellishments like a pair of eyes, a bow and bow, for instance. The soles were sewn onto the shoe to safeguard the feet.
According to INE figures, the production output in Russia was up in May 2022 as compared with the same month last year. The leather and footwear industries saw a rise in production. Demand for safety shoes was the primary driver behind the growth. The Russian company Vostok Serviceproduces safety shoes at its two production locations: Torzhok Shoes Factory>> ZAO in Torzhok (Tver Region) and WorkingStyle OOO in Uzlovaya (Tula Region). Vostok-Service is also an authorized distributor of the German brand Desma.
Traditional Techniques
The 12th century was Novgorod was an important shoe-making center. There were a variety of shoes discovered in layers from this period, including the bog shoe (lapti) soft ankle boots, shoes, and high-sided shoes which reached the ankle (porshni). All of these were made from birch, linden, oak or elm bark. the bast was removed of the bark, and cut into strips for weaving.
The saddle stitch or hidden stitch was employed to join the leather pieces, depending on whether they were together or next to each other. When the upper leather piece was abutting the lower one, it was sewn to it using a butt seam [Rus. tachnyi shov, tachnyj shov].
Another kind of winter shoes was the burki (feather and felt boots) constructed from white felt. These were worn by upper-class people, which included Party commanders, military leaders Generals, officials from the government and military.
The 14th century saw the demise of simple openwork shoes, in favour of knee-high boots, which were distinguished by their narrow heel sections, small openings for threading laces and holes or cuts in bootlegs for ornamental giay luoi nam cao cap leather straps. The cultural layer in Novgorod includes these kinds of shoes. They were tightened at the ankle with a lacing made of leather.
Modern Innovation
VV: The culture of sneakers is fairly recent in Russia. I believe it’s growing, and the market keeps growing. It’s not like it was in the 90s, when sneakers were available only to a few Moscow and Saint Petersburg residents who could afford foreign brands.
The Russian footwear industry is trying to adopt new trends and technologies by incorporating them in its production processes. For example, Obuv Rossii developed an automated system for manufacturing clogs and flip-flops using EVA using solid technology. The system is among the most advanced in the area.
The use of novel materials is also being evaluated by shoemakers. In addition, they are adopting the latest IT solutions to improve the omnichannel commerce and improve customer loyalty by offering an array of additional services.
For example, in the near future the company plans to develop and launch new styles of footwear for children and women. It will be possible to purchase shoes that are paired with bags as well as shoe care products and the hosiery. The features are expected to boost sales, stimulate more sophisticated purchases and improve the loyalty of customers.