Suitable for kings

Regal Shoe & Co.

The name Regal carries very royal connotations in English meaning grand, majestic, and impressive. Can you share with us how this came to be the brand’s name?

The brand name was set up as REGAL from the meaning of aiming for shoes suitable for kings. It is now recognized in Japan as a shoe brand that has confirmed its dominant position in Japan.

To our understanding, Regal was initially founded in America and then later brought to and owned within the Japanese market. Can you talk a little about the history of Regal?

Founded in 1880 in Massachusetts, USA. The first shop was opened in Boston, followed by shops across the USA. The company then landed in Japan in 1961, where it established a firm position as the spark for Japan’s Ivy boom and planned further global expansion.

Here in Germany, we get excited when we get access to American or Japanese exclusives. When was the decision for Regal to expand into the global market?

We began our global expansion last year. Starting with the launch of a collaborative model with “nanamica” as a partnership brand, we will then accelerate our expansion into the European and US markets with the GORE-TEX Collection of classic shoe technology.

A lot of the silhouettes Regal produces can be classified as ‘Classics’, how does the brand go about selecting the fabrics and designs for updating and creating shoes?

Based on the many classic design shoes that have been made in the long history of REGAL, the leather tanned for Gore-Tex technology is used in an original way with a tannery in Himeji, Japan. In addition, although the appearance is classic, the midsole of classic shoes is usually made of cork, but REGAL Shoe &Co. has developed an original “OrthoLite®” material for classic shoes and installed it in the midsole. The shoes are as comfortable as sneakers. In Japanese street fashion, we believe that updated functionality and fissionability of classic shoes are necessary.

At one point in time Regal produced the standard school shoe for the Japanese school system, can you expand on this?

Even today, they are recognized as the school loafers of Japan. Our product reigned as a high-end model among school loafers and was the pupils’ dream. They are recognized as the designated shoe for children of wealthy families and prestigious schools.

When did the product development and innovation team start working with GORE-TEX and how has this adapted the perception of the brand in a global market?

The company has a long history of joint development with the Gore-Tex team, starting in 1999, and in 2011 succeeded in developing shoes with Gore-Tex functionality using the Goodyear welt method, and now reigns as the only factory brand with a mass production factory. Since 2022, the company has also strengthened its “classic shoes x technology” offer with Gore-Tex and Vibram soles, significantly increasing its recognition in the global market.

What’s next? We are very excited to be stacking you at HHV along with our own ‘secret project’ but can you tell us if you have anything else coming up we should know about?

Our plans for the future are to strengthen our expansion into the global market and we are very excited about the launch of our exclusive model with HHV.
We’re also looking forward to working with “GORE-TEX” on a great launch and promotion.

Shop Regal Online at HHV