History

Berlioz

Adriaan Boudewijnsz. Vlot was born on 15 April 1910. As a young man with a shoemaker’s heart and a flair for business he was the instigator of the family’s lasting fondness for shoes. His first employer, Baardwijk, was a shoemaker and barber. It was this man that taught Adriaan all the tricks of the shoemaker’s trade and instilled in him a love of leather and shoes. Baardwijk retired in around 1930 and this is when Adriaan started his own business. He travelled many kilometres on a delivery bike in all kinds of weather to visit potential customers and suppliers. Sole leather, heels and threads were purchased in small quantities and Adriaan slowly but surely managed to accumulate some investment capital. In the post-war period, it was still revolutionary for people to work with machines. Adriaan first of all acquired a stitching machine and later an adjustable sander.

Adriaan was the first to instil in the family a feeling for aesthetics. He raised his children to love shoes and the play of lines in the various models. The first official shop, Vlot Schoenen en Lederwaren, opened in 1938. The outbreak of the war signalled the start of a difficult period.

Mauritz Cornelis was born on 27 September 1934 into a world filled with the smell of leather and shoes where he soon learned to appreciate quality. He grew up in a paradise of colours and models. Grandfather Mauritz worked in his father’s business until 1961 and was trained in the aesthetics of a real master craftsman. He flourished in the shoemaking environment and became a skilled consultant.

Mauritz Vlot opened his store at Oostzeedijk 41 in Rotterdam Kralingen in 1962. The shop bore the name ‘Mauritz Vlot Exclusive Shoes’. He was very proud to have been able to open a shop at this idyllic location close to the ‘Avenue Concordia’ and the magnificent tree-lined ‘Hoflaan’. Numerous boutiques make this a charming shopping street in a neighbourhood rich in art-nouveau decorations which is a constant source of inspiration. Grandfather’s love of Kralingen, the neighbourhood in which he lived and worked, was also passed down from one generation to the next. Kralingen inspires in all kinds of ways, but it is a neighbourhood which is much loved by people who are keen to reap the fruits of that inspiration.

The birth of a son on 5 May 1959 gave the family much cheer. Placed in a shoebox at birth, the destiny of little Jan Hendrik Theodoor was already sealed. After a smooth primary and secondary school education, Jan Hendrik opted to train as a specialist shoemaker and proved his natural talent by completing the course two years earlier than was usual. During the years he spent gaining experience in his trade at various Rotterdam companies, his tailor-made creations came to the attention of a number of prominent public figures. His customers included the Brenninkmeijer brothers, who discreetly recognise real quality. Jan Hendrik even managed to fulfil the more exclusive wishes of customers like the ‘Prince van Lignac’.

As a scion of this family of shoemaking entrepreneurs, Mauritz C. Vlot still uses this history as a source of inspiration for continuing along the path of quality and exclusivity, and to apply his innate and acquired talents to the production of bespoke footwear.