Bull Bay craftsman turns animal skin into fashion

People often stop Milton Bonner and ask where he got his 'Clarks,' but the shoes on his feet - firm, stitched, and fitted with care - weren't bought; he made them himself.

"They don't realise it's my own work," he told THE STAR, holding up a pair of handcrafted Derbys.

"Clarks is just a brand. These are Derby shoes, real English-style shoes," he clarified. Bonner, a shoemaker from Bull Bay, St Andrew, is the founder of Love Drumz Sandalz, a small leather footwear line that's steadily built a reputation for quality and originality. His shoes, including Derby, Oxford, and Chukka boots, are made from a blend of goat, cow, and pig skin. Some materials are imported from countries like Mexico, South Korea, and China. But the goat skin is sourced locally.

"I try to use tree bark and natural acids to help cure and tan the skins, like how indigenous people used to do it," Bonner explained. "The difference with real leather is that it lasts longer. It's durable, strong. The man-made stuff? That's just fabric and rubber with a leather look."

His start in shoemaking came by accident. In 2009, while walking along East Street in Kingston with his drum, Bonner, who was then a part-time tutor at the Institute of Jamaica, spotted a woman named Keisha crafting goat skin wallets and sandals.

"She told me I could come learn the trade," he recalled. "I didn't take it up right away. But the idea stuck with me."

It wasn't until 2017, after one of his students told him about a shoemaking course being offered by HEART/NSTA Trust on Duke Street, that he formally pursued it.

"That four-month course helped me sharpen my skills. It gave me the confidence to go all in," he said.

From there, Bonner began crafting shoes with a distinct handmade touch.

"My hands do everything," he said. He turns the shoe upside down, tapping the sole, which is thick, ridged, and stitched by hand.

"No machines to cut or clamp. Just a sander, some tacks, and a hammer. The only thing I use is a small sewing machine to do the stitching," he said.

The result is a product that often confuses people. Customers from England and Japan have commissioned pairs in custom colours, and strangers frequently assume his designs are factory-made.

"A lot of people mistake it for Clarks," he said. "But Clarks is mass-produced. What I do is different."

Still, there are challenges. His downtown Kingston shop on Chancery Lane, which he co-manages with fellow HEART graduate Michael Rowe, has seen a decline in foot traffic.

"Downtown has become hostile," he said. "People don't want to come shop there any more." Then came COVID-19.

"It gave me a hard dent," Bonner said. "And right after that, my mother got really sick. She has dementia and is visually impaired. All of that set me back." The cost of materials remains another obstacle.

"A single pair of Derby shoes starts at $16,000. That's the minimum. And the truth is, the cost to produce them is higher," he explained. "We're not a factory. We don't mass produce. Every pair is done by hand, and importing the materials is expensive."

Even so, Bonner stays committed to the craft. He holds up his foot again and says, "This shoe right here? I'm the only person in the world wearing it."