Manitobah Mukluks keeps tradition alive in the fashion world

Aboriginal footwear known as mukluks are moving into the fashion mainstream thanks to Manitobah Mukluks, a company based in Winnipeg.

Manitobah Mukluks has become one of the fastest-growing footwear brands in Canada.

Its Winnipeg facility alone manufactures about 50,000 pairs of mukluks and moccasins a year and ships them to stores and feet around the world.

McCormick said he started out by tanning leather and trading it for hand-made traditional footwear from local crafters that he would sell to souvenir shops.

"A 23-year-old Mtis kid at the time, coming from humble beginnings, let me put it that way," he told CBC News on Wednesday. "I think that it's very inspirational."

McCormick's vision is to share a piece of his culture with the fashion world, as well as give back to the aboriginal community.

"We teach aboriginal kids how to make mukluks and do bead work because that's kind of a lost art now, or becoming one," he said, adding that his company also offers bursaries for aboriginal students pursuing post-secondary studies.

As well, about half of Manitobah Mukluks' staff is aboriginal, including Jaime Lepine, who was hired three years ago to handle online orders and now manages the e-commerce department.

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"I really didn't have much experience with that, either, so they did a lot of in-house training for me, and now I'm doing that for more employees that I've hired," she said.

Manitobah Mukluks also gives aboriginal artisans an opportunity to sell their footwear through the Storyboot Project, in which 100 per cent of sales of hand-made boots go directly to the artists.

As well, there is the Storyboot School, where aboriginal artists teach the skill of handcrafting traditional footwear.

"They talk their great-grandmother used to make these, and we lost it, and they have the skill again," said Marilyn Tanner-Spence, one of the school's instructors.

Check out the photo gallery from the CBC's Jillian Taylor, who visited Manitobah Mukluks' Winnipeg headquarters on Wednesday.