Aaron Britt
Photo by Michael D. Wilson
From the August 2024 issue
The factory floor of Lewiston shoe manufacturer Rancourt Co. was filled with whirring, clicking and clanging on a recent afternoon. About 40 employees were hard at work in the cutting, sewing and polishing stations, and at least as many machines were drying and polishing shoes and sewing soles. I walked down the noisy road to see Rancourt's latest creations. A rack in the middle of the store displayed a pair of ivory suede Bucks with brick-red soles. With their tailored cut and traditional color scheme, the shoes embodied the classic Ivy League style for which Rancourt is known, but the company logo was nowhere to be found. Instead, the Bucks bore the logo of the U.S. Olympic team on the tongue and fashion's quintessential sartorial patriot, Ralph Lauren, on the insole.
Rancourt's shoes are part of a uniform designed by Ralph Lauren and produced by various U.S. manufacturers that U.S. athletes will wear at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this summer. The uniform includes a crisp navy blazer edged with red and white stripes, a navy pinstripe shirt and light-wash jeans. The jeans are fastened with a leather and webbing belt featuring the U.S. flag and “Team USA” in block letters. The belt is made by another manufacturer, Rogue Industries, of Standish, Maine.
“When Ralph Lauren emailed us, we thought it was a scam at first,” says Michael Lyons, founder of Rogue Industries. “So we looked into it and we thought, Okay, they've done their homework and they want to partner with us. We didn't expect that.” Lyons, who launched his company in 2007 with leather front-pocket wallets before expanding into bags and belts, was recommended to Ralph Lauren executives by a mutual friend at Sea Bags in Portland. To honor Ralph Lauren's commitment to using American-made materials for its Olympic uniforms, Lyons spent months finding U.S. suppliers who could provide the webbing, steerhide leather and nickel-plated buckles for the belts. “Every single part required vetting vendors that were new to us,” he says. “We can definitely move into webbing belts now.”
Rancourt, which produces its own line of loafers, moccasins, boots and dress shoes, began making shoes for Ralph Lauren 15 years ago. The fashion label, which has outfitted Team USA since 2008, asked Rancourt to make red, white and blue leather boat shoes for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and white cloth sneakers with bold crimson and navy stripes for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics. For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Rancourt has made buckskin-lined snow boots in a different patriotic color scheme. “It's been a good partnership,” co-owner Michael Rancourt says. “We think it's good for the state and good for the community.”
Since 2016, Kyle and Michael Rancourt (above right) of Lewiston have partnered with Ralph Lauren to make patriotic footwear for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes. This summer, the Rancourts' suedebacks and webbing belts made by Rogue Industries of Standish will be part of the uniforms the athletes will wear at the opening and closing ceremonies in Paris.
Michael's father, David, moved to Lewiston from Quebec at the height of Lewiston's shoe-making boom in the 1950s and worked in and eventually owned a moccasin factory. David and Michael then opened their own factory and expanded David's product line to hand-sewn loafers and dress shoes. In the 1990s, Michael founded a third Rancourt shoe manufacturing company, which he then sold. When the owners announced plans to close the company's Lewiston factory, Michael and his son Kyle bought it back and founded Rancourt & Co. there in 2009. Today, Rancourt and Quoddy, which makes casual moccasins, sandals, slippers and boots, is one of Lewiston's few remaining shoe manufacturers.
Producing shoes for the more than 500 U.S. Olympians and Paralympians competing in Paris was a herculean task that began last year. Michael said that the suede Bucks shoes go through 130 steps in the manufacturing process, and keeping them clean was just as much work. Workers wore rubber gloves when handling the shoes and frequently dusted them with compressed air. “The athletes are very proud of what they've accomplished with Team USA,” Michael said. “It's a big job for us, and we don't take it for granted.”
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