Aigle

Aigle

In 1852, American industrialist and soon to be Aigle founder Hiram Hutchinson, met American chemist Charles Goodyear. Goodyear had developed and patented a process known as vulcanisation, whereby rubber is heated with sulphur, accelerator, and activator at 140–160°C, in order to improve the rubber’s elasticity, resilience, tensile strength, viscosity, hardness, and weather resistance. In short, vulcanisation transformed the rubber industry. In 1853, Hutchinson applied the vulcanisation process to shoes and created the “L’Aigle” as a reference to the American Eagle, to produce waterproof city shoes. Four years on, the company were producing 14,000 pairs of shoes per day, by hand! 

Today, Aigle is global, with 74 retail stores in Europe, and 295 retail stores in Asia. In 2020, Aigle attained €280 million in brand sales, and the company plans to keep on growing!  Aigle products are made to last for ‘years and years’, and are ready to live multiple lives, as demonstrated through their ‘Second Souffle’ programme. Aigle products are carefully made with the most robust materials, whilst the seams are designed to endure even the toughest wear. The brand conducts rigorous testing and quality checks, including stringent waterproof tests, all to ensure each Aigle piece will last as long as possible.