R.M. Williams ⚠️ With reservations

R.M. Williams was born in the Australian outback. The Craftsman boot, cut from a single piece of leather (wholecut), became an Australian cultural symbol. Goodyear welt construction, resoleable and repairable. The return to Australian ownership via Tattarang (Andrew Forrest) in 2020 was well received.

Reginald Murray Williams was born in 1908 in Balelie North, in the South Australian outback. His father trained horses. In 1918, the family moved to Adelaide for the children's education, but young R.M. hated school. At 15 he left and returned to the bush. He found manual work, studied by campfire light at night, and at 18 became a camel driver for a missionary. Aborigines taught him kangaroo leather plaiting and desert survival.

After three years of trekking, R.M. returned to Adelaide, married, went back to the bush. A craftsman named Dollar Mick visited the family camp and taught him to make saddles, bags, and leather boots. In 1932, R.M.'s son contracted an eye disease requiring expensive treatment. R.M. proposed supplying cattle magnate Sidney Kidman with saddles and boots. Kidman agreed. R.M. Williams was born, in his father's iron wool-shed in Adelaide.

Orders exploded. R.M. went into debt, then bought shares in a northern Australian gold mine. He struck gold. Millionaire. He developed bush ready-to-wear, launched moleskin, was the first to bring blue jeans to Australia. In 1978, first store in Toowoomba. Then he abandoned it all and returned to the bush. He died in 2003, an Australian legend.

The Craftsman, one-piece leather Chelsea boot, hand-sewn in Adelaide, became an Australian cultural symbol. Obama, Clinton, Nicole Kidman, the Duchess of Cambridge wear them. After the 1988 sale, ownership history is chaotic: receivership in 1993, then Ken Cowley, LVMH (49.9% in 2013), L Catterton (82% in 2020), and finally Tattarang (Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, 2020-2021). Manufacturing remains in Adelaide, 500+ employees.