LE CHAMEAU

Past & Present

In 1927 Claude Chamot, an agricultural engineer from Cherbourg, produced his first ever natural rubber boot. Made entirely by hand these boots quickly found favour with both amateur and professional
users. People soon discovered that natural rubber had distinct advantages over any other product on the market. Today the processes initiated by Claude Chamot have been refined and developed to create the finest natural product available for protection against the wet.

Today, careful selection of the very best materials coupled with the high-precision boot-making methods support a tradition which Le Chameau have always taken great care to maintain. With their long experience of boot-making they are constantly innovating, combining the best materials with their total mastery of modern technology. Le Chameau boots are now sold in 25 countries around the world.

Grand Tour of the Factory in Normandy

Where it all begins......natural rubber in it's raw state taken from the 'hevea' - a native tree of tropical Amazonia.

Rubber is softened, smoothed and mixed with natural dyes using large rollers.

Mixed compound is then finely rolled into sheet rubber, which will form the main body of the boot.

Stringent quality control ensures against any bubbles or dye marks. Faulty pieces are cut out and recycled. Rubber is then cut into lengths for assembly. All the component pieces for one pair of boots are placed into a 'pattern book'; each section is separated by a calico 'page' to prevent sticking.

Cotton, neoprene or leather linings are hand cut and put onto lasts before final assembly of the rubber boot.

Highly trained assemblers make up the boots using traditional skills and tools.

Here you can see the 'pattern book' and the assembly of a pair of Chasseur boots.

Finally the boots are vulcanized at high temperatures. They are removed from their last; zip openings are cut using large scissors and an experienced 'eye'; tops are trimmed and final quality is checked before the boots are boxed and despatched.

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Festivals

We specialise in fine quality wellington boots, ankle boots, shoes and clogs from Hunter, Aigle, Le Chameau, The Muck Boot Co., Girlie Gardening, Evercreatures and Alternature. We are proud to stock a wide variety of styles and colours. Linings can be cotton, neoprene or leather. Styles include chest and thigh waders, knee length wellies, ankle and calf length boots, shoes and clogs. Hunter Original wellingtons are available in all colours such as black, pink, red, navy, green, fuchsia, aubergine, chocolate, white and iris. Our coloured festival boot collections are much in demand during the busy music festival season. Hunter have recently introduced the Balmoral Classic and Balmoral Neoprene. Aigle’s walking boot collection, the Parcours, Vario, ISO and Vario Outlast are ideal for long distance walking and remain our best selling welly range.Le Chameau top of the range, Chasseur and Chasseurnord are fully zipped, and the Vega, Veganord and Vierzonord are ever-popular. For a good all round basic welly, why not have a look at the Aigle Benylsport or Le Chameau All Tracks and also available in ladies version (All Tracks Lady). We also have a good selection of wide calf wellingtons for the ‘larger’ figure! ‘Little ones’ are well catered for in our children’s wellies collection including Aigle (Lollypop and Perdrix) and Hunter, who now produce the Child Original cotton, with a neoprene lining, the Child Original Neo. When the weather is cooler, why not try pair of our colour co-ordinating warm Welly Warmers available to keep out the cold!

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Wellington Boot Socks

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LE CHAMEAU

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