About Us

The Shoemakers Academy

The Shoemakers Academy is pleased to offer shoemaking courses, textbooks, supplies, and professional coaching to aspiring shoemakers all around the world.

I’m Wade Motawi, “The Shoe Dog.” In 2004, I created The Sneaker Factory.net website to share with other aspiring shoemakers all the materials and information I wish were available to me when I was starting out. Now, after many years of online sales and 30 years of experience working in the shoe trades, my team has created a bigger and better selection including online courses, textbooks, and supplies for all levels of shoemakers.

Welcome to the Shoemakers Academy.com.

Meet Our Instructors

Wade Motawi, the resident “Shoe Dog” at ShoeMakers Academy, serves as our founder, general manager, and chief instructor for all things related to the shoe business. Holding an Industrial Design degree from the University of Michigan, Wade embarked on his journey as a shoe designer in 1995.

Throughout his extensive career, he has fulfilled various roles, including designer, developer, product line manager, development group manager, advanced technology group manager, footwear buyer, sourcing manager, and consultant. His professional journey has taken him to the far east, where he has lived and worked extensively.

In addition to his design work, Wade is an accomplished author, having written several highly acclaimed books on modern shoemaking. His passion for sharing knowledge led him to found Shoemakers Academy, where he imparts his expertise to aspiring shoemakers and enthusiasts alike.

We are thrilled to introduce our long time friend and pro footwear designer Franck Boistel. Franck “The Sole Explorer” is a hot-shot designer with over 25 years of product creation success. Franck has joined Shoemakers Academy as a creative design instructor. We are looking forward to more creative lessons with Franck!

Join Franck Boistel, “The Sole Explorer,” as he goes to work with both classic and modern drawing tools. Discover the power of creativity, hand sketching, and design by artificial intelligence.

Don’t miss this opportunity to equip yourself with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the competitive world of shoe design. Franck will be your guide on this exciting creative journey.

Franck is currently accepting footwear design contracts.

Check out his work portfolio here on Coroflot.

Welcome to the Los Angeles sneaker studio of custom builder and S-tier denim master Erik Gavica.

Erik has joined the Shoemakers Academy team as a chief instructor responsible for our custom sneaker builds and DIY shoemaking program. Erik comes to you with hard-fought experience gained working in the LA fashion scene. Before launching his own brand, he worked with industry icons Kanye West and Shoe Surgeon Dominic Ciambrone.

Erik is ready to share his knowledge and offer his L.A. shoemaking classes online. With patience, care, concentration, and Erik’s guidance, you can learn how to build iconic sneakers at home with common tools and equipment.

If you find yourself in Los Angeles, Erik offers in-person instruction and coaching.

Why Choose Us

Shoemakers Academy will guide you step-by-step to become a better shoemaker. Our instructors have a combined 65+ years of knowledge and experience in the footwear industry and aim to help you reach your goals faster.

Our Mission

Our mission is help aspiring, creative, individuals overcome the challenges of footwear design, development, and starting a shoe brand.

Our Vision

Our vision is to offer shoemaking tools, supplies, materials, coaching, education, and community to all types and levels of shoemakers worldwide. Just starting or already in the biz? We got you!

What Our Students Say

Feedback

I Enjoyed Every Lesson!

“Wade is a great teacher. The courses are easy to understand and he delivers his deep shoemaking knowledge with interesting personal anecdotes.”

Jose R.

Footwear Developer

Highly Recommend!

“The Shoe Dog and his team helped us launch our brand. We went from an idea to actual samples in 6 weeks. We shipped our first ocean container after only 5 months and our product is a huge hit after our first year of sales.”

Andrea S.

Brand Owner

Excellent! Valuable Information

“I finally understand how all the pieces of shoemaking come together – it’s like I was right inside the shoe factory. Such valuable information."

Jim R.

Future Shoe Designer

Fantastic! Thorough and Applicable!

"I've read your content and it's fantastic. It's for sure the most thorough content on footwear creation, it's very applicable and it's very exciting that you are developing videos from it."

Dan C

Founder, Laceless Design