Olympic team to sport shoes handcrafted in Lewiston
The U.S. Olympic team will be sporting red, white and blue leather boat shoes handcrafted by the Lewiston-based shoemaker Rancourt & Co. during the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
The official announcement from Ralph Lauren — the team’s uniform designer — about Rancourt’s shoes being a part of the official uniform came in the form of a video published last week that touted the domestic companies that are contributing to the team’s Olympic ceremony garb, according to the Sun Journal.
Rancourt has been working with the U.S. Team’s uniform designer Ralph Lauren for seven years — quietly making private-label shoes for its retail stores — the only indication that a Maine manufacturer was behind the shoes is the box stating “Made in Maine.”
"The fact that we're being credited for making the shoes, it's another level," Kyle Rancourt, Rancourt’s vice president, told the Sun Journal. "We were surprised, to be honest, that they featured us so prominently. I think it speaks to the authenticity of our story: My grandfather being a shoemaker, my dad joining him and then me joining my dad. All along, we've been making shoes in Lewiston."
In addition to being handcrafted by Rancourt’s 65 employees, the shoes will also feature a foam rubber lining made by a Biddeford company as well as thread manufactured by the Lewiston-based Maine Thread Co., according to the Sun Journal.
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