“We still cut leather by hand and boot tops are still stitched by a regular sewing machine, not by computer. That gives our products a totally handmade look.”
— Iram Cobos
Since his early teenage years, Ruben Cobos has been captivated by the beauty of well-crafted leather boots. “I learned bootmaking in Juárez, Mexico, when I was about 15 years old. My dad used to live in part of the city. I would walk to his shop,” he recalled.
His bootmaking lessons began in earnest, when he apprenticed with master leatherworker, Merced Salazar, of Juárez, who taught him how to make shoes and boots. In 1962, by the time he was 18, Ruben launched his own boot shop business. Soon, he became a master bootmaker.
His first enterprise was called La Reyna Del Arte (The Queen of Art). It began with a small shop in Juárez, with two employees. But it didn’t take long for the company’s durable work boots to grow
