about

The Loint stream in the Langstraat, between reeds and meadow
About Loints of Holland

Beautiful, comfortable and sustainable. One cannot do without the others.

Loints of Holland is named after the Loint, a small stream in the Langstraat in Brabant. Its water was so pure that the tanners depended on it. Pure, simple and honest: that is still what the brand is about.

See the winter collectionOur DNA
AestheticsFit and comfortSustainabilityLointsofHolland
Our DNA

Three things, balanced in every design

We design every Loints of Holland model from three angles at once: how the shoe looks, how it fits and how responsibly it is made. None of the three may win over the other two. It is exactly that combination that makes a Loints of Holland shoe recognisable, and you feel it the moment you put them on.

Aesthetics

Calm, rounded shapes with roots in 1970s design. No decoration for the sake of it, no trends. We practise the art of leaving out: what does not need to be there, we leave out. That is why a Loints of Holland shoe still looks just as good ten years from now.

Fit and comfort

We look at the natural shape of the foot and the natural way of walking, and we design on our own lasts.

  • Room for your toes, with a rounded toe
  • Room that can open up where your foot needs it, by placing seams only where they belong and letting seamless leather give
  • Comfort from the base, not from a thick layer of cushioning or lining that has to hide a poor fit

Sustainability

We want to make shoes as responsibly as possible.

  • Sturdy, well-tanned leather, often unlined, so less material and less glue
  • As few different materials as possible, so parts can be separated at the end
  • No unnecessary parts, and patterns that use leather sparingly
  • Repairable, with a removable footbed in the winter models
Why one cannot do without the others

A shoe is only sustainable if you want to keep wearing it for years, and can.

Timeless makes it sustainable

A shoe that is out of fashion after one season ends up in the cupboard, however responsibly it was made. That is why we do not design for this year, but for the next ten.

Comfort makes it sustainable

Only a shoe that really fits well is one you keep wearing until it is worn out. Then you replace the footbed or have it resoled, instead of buying a new pair.

Leaving out makes everything better

Fewer seams and layers give your foot more room and flexibility, and also mean less material and less glue. What is good for the fit is often good for sustainability too.

Simplicity is not simple

If you want to leave something out, you have to understand it inside out. That is why a Loints of Holland shoe is easy to wear, but anything but easy to make.

How it began

A different way of making shoes

In the 1960s, shoe factories in the Netherlands disappeared one after another. Instead of closing or moving abroad, designer Kees Klijsen chose a radically different design: less handwork per shoe, better materials and the art of leaving out. Loints of Holland grew out of that choice.

"I wanted to stay well away from fashion. I mainly used the trade fairs to decide what not to do."

Kees Klijsen, designer

Sustainability was not the goal back then, but it followed naturally. Customers and shops recognised a pure and honest product, and together we set out on a sustainable journey, long before sustainability became the norm. Later designers developed those principles further. They are still the basis of every Loints of Holland shoe.

Read the full history
Designer Kees Klijsen with his shoes

Designer Kees Klijsen with his own designs.

Hands stitching a leather upper
Where we make

Made within trucking distance of the Netherlands

We are open about where our shoes come from. We work closely with established, specialised partner factories, mainly in Spain and Turkey. We visit them ourselves, supply our own patterns and give our own instructions. We make each model where it is made best, and everything comes to Kaatsheuvel by truck.

  • Small runs per colour, so little is left over
  • Deliberately fewer models, in a collection we fully stand behind
  • Wherever a shoe is made, the design and the lasts come from Kaatsheuvel
The craft being passed on in the factory, around 1990

Around 1990: the craft is passed on in the factory.

Since 1918

A family business from Kaatsheuvel

Behind Loints of Holland is a family business. Each generation has renewed it in its own way, but the starting point has always stayed the same: a shoe has to fit.

  1. 1918

    It starts with made-to-measure shoes, for feet that ordinary shoes did not fit.

  2. The 1970s

    The brand is born, named after the Loint, with supple, simple shoes. In 1986 the Turbo follows.

  3. Today

    The organisation has been adapted to the times. The product deliberately has not: the DNA has stayed.

Your first pair

Get to know us without risk

Buying a new shoe online feels like a gamble when you do not know the brand yet. That is why we make it as easy as possible.

Size advice first

Not sure between two sizes, or do you have a wide foot or high instep? Send us a message. We know how each model fits and reply in your language.

Honest about the fit

Every product page says how the model really fits, even if that costs us a sale.

Free shipping and returns*

If it does not fit, send it back or exchange it for another size.

Pay the way you like

With iDEAL, Bancontact, credit card, Klarna, PayPal, Apple Pay and more.

Ready to start

Start with winter

This winter we start with two boots we fully stand behind: the Vliegert and the Voorsterveld. Around them, the collection grows, model by model.

See the VliegertSee the VoorsterveldAll winter models

* Free shipping and returns from € 100 to the Netherlands and most EU countries. Below € 100, shipping costs € 7.95. To other countries we ship from € 100, for € 29. Shipping · Returns and exchanges