Founded in 1879 by James Crockett and his brother-in-law Charles Jones, Crockett & Jones has been crafting the finest quality footwear from its factory in Northampton for more than 140 years, and the company is still family-owned.

While its women’s footwear production only makes up a small percentage of the overall business, Clare Jones leads the design of the ladies shoes, and not only has she changed the lasts to make them more feminine and suitable for a woman’s foot, over the past few years she has sourced lighter-weight and softer leathers and soles for the women’s styles, sourcing many of the materials from very niche suppliers.

Each shoe is made in the Northampton factory from start to finish, using manufacturing processes, many of which have remained the same for over 100 years. This includes the ‘clickers’ (whose name derives from the ‘click’ sound made when the knife is removed from the leather) cutting the leather for the shoes uppers, and the lasting process, when the shoe starts to take shape, as the upper of the shoe is tacked to the back, then pulled over at the toe by the lasting machine, before being side lasted by hand.

New for spring/summer 2020, the Tessa loafer in white calf takes inspiration from the brand’s early-40s women’s shoe designs, featuring a strap and buckle apron fronted upper, with a singer leather sole. Made for comfort and convenience, yet incredibly chic, this easy-to-wear loafer is modelled from Last 617, which is characterised by an elongated toe and soft-almond shape.

Also based on Last 617, the Sara Derby in versatile nut suede is a classic toecap Oxford made from the finest suede and complemented with matching laces. The Oxford shoe is a formal style that dates back more than 200 years, and is thought to have been given its name by the students at Oxford University, though the style almost certainly predates this ‘naming’ further still. The lightweight cleated rubber sole of the Sara provides exceptional durability, making this style a practical modern classic

Another new model benefiting from the lightweight yet hardwearing Vibram rubber sole, is the Laura – the first horse-bit loafer model since the early 70s. This relaxed yet sophisticated throwback style combines contemporary yet retro design and comes in beautiful cloud grey suede.

Tessa, £420; Sara, £370; Laura, £370; crockettandjones.com