Rainbow Cobblers
Retail shoe store in San Francisco, US
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rainbow Cobblers was a 1970s shoe maker and retail shoe store in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, U.S..[1][2] They were known for "exotic" hippie-style boots, often with patchwork, or appliqué.[3][4] They crafted bespoke, one-of-a-kind boots, often using traditional techniques, and were considered wearable art by many. A second location was in Los Angeles, California.
- 780 Columbus Avenue,
North Beach, San Francisco, California, United States - 37.801850°N 122.412623°W
Howard Z. Fuchs
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1971 |
| Closing date | December 1974 |
| Owner | Bruce Smith Howard Z. Fuchs |
| Goods sold | shoe maker, retail shoe store |
 Interactive map of Rainbow Cobblers | |
History
The business was owned by Borogrove, Inc. and co-founded by Bruce Smith.[4][5][6][7] Smith was from Pennsylvania and was in the shoe sales business prior.[4] It was headquartered at 780 Columbus Avenue (now 785), at Greenwich Street; and had a second location in Los Angeles.[4] Many of the Rainbow Cobblers employees in San Francisco were master craftsmen from El Salvador.[1][3] Rainbow Cobblers were able to make custom shoes like extra small sizes, extra tall boots, or for specific uses like dancing, police work, theatre or orthopedic shoes.[1][3]
The boots were popular and sold to musicians, bands, and activists, including Three Dog Night, Buddy Miles, the Grateful Dead, Black Oak Arkansas, Bobby Seale, and Huey P. Newton.[4]
Legacy
Rainbow Cobblers were part of the exhibition "The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll," (2017) at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.[8][9]
A pair of men's patchwork boots (1972), and a pair of women's boots called the "Sequoia" boots (c. 1970s) are part of the collection at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.[10][11][9] Rainbow Cobblers are also part of the collection at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada.
