The legacy of the Maxeco boot from Lemaitre

“We decided that we needed to manufacture under licence, and contacts at the SABS pointed us in the direction of a French company who had expressed interest in the South African market. During the first half of 1990 we initially went to Lemaitre, in Strasbourg, and met the MD and owner, Jean-Michel. Our meetings culminated in a signed licensing agreement for Lemaitre safety footwear.”

Novis notes that it was decided to position the brand as European styled, technologically advanced and comfortable; and they went to market with the premise of “Why you deserve to wear a better safety boot”.

“It was a great campaign and something that the industry had never done before. It worked and the workforce started to demand the Lemaitre Maxeco, which was the only model we launched. You could have them in any colour you wanted, as long as it was black or tan!”

He says that the focus on the people actually wearing the boots is still central to the Lemaitre brand in South Africa. “In hindsight, we introduced the right product at the right time at the right price and managed to launch possibly the most successful selling safety shoe of all time in the South African market.”

And hence the Lemaitre Maxeco was introduced towards the end of 1990 – the first ever locally produced direct injection dual density PU sole on a safety footwear style. From humble beginnings the Maxeco has since become the number-one selling safety footwear style in the history of our country. It ushered in the era of dual density safety footwear, and is still the most popular style of sole in the safety footwear industry today. That’s no small feat.