Rainer’s workshop has existed as a shoemaker’s in Mettmann ever since the year 1923, manufacturing made-to-measure shoes and carrying out repairs on shoes and leather articles. For 30 years, Rolf Rainer has further developed the business towards the work with bespoke made-to-measure shoes. In all these years he also did honorary work for the Shoemaker’s Association.
His diploma as a qualified social education worker has helped him to communicate with customers and apprentices alike. The Rainer business has always been training apprentices – 15 of them have left the workshop successfully with their certificate. Rolf Rainer produces round about 50 to 60 pairs of made-to-measure shoes per year.
Our Services
Bespoke Shoes
Handmade Shoes
Repairs & Services
Our feet support us from the very first step we make in life. In our lifetime, we cover up to 100,000 miles with them – that is about 4 times around the globe. In order to get that far, we have been relying on a useful companion for 2,000 years – that is the shoe. It has to carry the weight of our body.
On the outside it withstands the friction of the street and inside it bears the pressure of the foot. It is intended to hold and protect us, adapting to our foot like a second skin. Only if it achieves that perfect blend between hard and soft, supporting and resilient, the shoe will give you that certain feeling… to walk with ease.
The choice of material already offers a tremendous scope to underline your own personality. Whether you decide for traditional kinds of leather such as calf, goat or sheep or rather for kangaroo leather – it will have a marked effect on your apearance.
This is why competent and experienced staff are at your disposal at Rolf Rainer's to help you find the shoes which are perfectly in line with your personality.
A plain classic, or timeless elegance, or something unusual, playful or extravagant; one colour or mixed cours - every shoe is a unique handmade specimen underlining your character.
1923 Shoemaker's workshop founded in Mettmann by Xavier Rainer
1955 Max Rainer, his son, takes over
1986 Rolf Rainer carries on the tradition of his father and grandfather
1989 cooperation with the Frankfurt circus costume designer Anna Möntmann
1990 documentaries covering Rolf Rainer; gold medal for "fashionable made-to-measure shoes" awarded by the Federal Association of Guilds
1994 project "craftsmanship and design" by Cologne Chamber of Commerce; presentation of the "changeable shoe" at the Cologne handcrafts fair
1996 taking part in the exhibition "lost shoes" in Bonn and Offenbach
1997 permanent exhibition together with a Bonn photographer on the topic of "foot pictures"; leading a training course about "alterations of shoes to suit the foot"
1998 working with the project "made-to-measure instead of mass production";
foot scanner installed in Rolf Rainer's workshop; exhibition "from head to foot"
in the workshop of the Düsseldorf goldsmith Renate Sennewald
1999 further development of made-to-measure shoe production with cooperation partners
2000 in October exhibition in the shop of watercolours and canvasses of
shoes made by the Russian painter Tatjana Mihailova
2001 appeared in the
"Wednesday Live" programme of WDR West German Television
2002 in May 75th anniversary of the enterprise 2002 development of a network of
made-to-measure shoemakers supported by the Federal Ministry of Research
2003 worked with the WDR programme "Hobbythek"; development of the range of made-to-measure shoes
2004 appeared at the GDS shoe fair in Düsseldorf – TV feature
2007 development of a distinct range of shoes
2008 finalization of the proprietary range named ROLF RAINER FOOTWEAR
2009 exhibition in "Art Werk Mettmann" of various artistic creations of shoe designs
2010 Media coverage by Westdeutsche Zeitung newspaper and WDR TV station as part of “Local news from Düsseldorf”; introduction of a hatch for 24 h receipt of shoe repairs; commission of work for Düsseldorf Opera
2011 A stand at the GDS shoe fair in Düsseldorf; cooperation with Moscow University for Design and Technology; exchange of apprentices in connection with custom-made shoes
2012 Training two journeymen as well as an Australian shoemaker
2013 Oral presentation at European Shoemaker’s trade fair in Wiesbaden
2015 Jury member during the annual Moscow University Best of Class competition for shoe design
2016 Participation in the “Independent Shoemakers Conference” in Birmingham, UK; development of a proprietary regional upper leather: “Neanderthal Buffalo Leather with herbal tanning”; organization of the first meeting of German-speaking shoemakers for custom-made shoes in Düsseldorf together with 34 colleagues.
2017 Visiting lecturer of Düsseldorf Fashion Design Institute.
Bespoke Shoes
from Düsseldorf
Rolf Rainer Footwear
Johannes-Flintrop-Straße 29
40822 Mettmann (Düsseldorf)
Germany
Phone +49 2104 983915
Fax +49 2104 983917
Opening Hours
Mon, Tue, Wed: closed
Thu, Fri: 10 am – 6 pm
Sat: 10 am – 1 pm