CHURCH'S
STORY SO FAR
Founded in 2015 in Manchester by brothers Tom and Phil Beahon (then aged 25 and 22). Tom had played youth football for Tranmere Rovers and trained in Spain; Phil had played semi-professional cricket. Castore was set up to apply premium materials and a more design-led aesthetic to performance sportswear, under the brand mantra 'Better Never Stops'. The company secured an early profile through tennis champion Andy Murray, who became a kit partner in January 2019 and later took an equity stake. Castore has since signed kit deals with football, rugby union, cricket, Formula 1 and tennis teams and athletes, expanded into golf, and grown into one of the more aggressive challenger sportswear brands of the late 2010s and 2020s.
DESIGNED BY
In-house Church's design team based at the St James factory in Northampton, England, working under the Prada Group. UK-based design: Yes (manufacturing-led design, anchored in the Northampton factory).
MADE BY
Per the brand and Prada Group: Church's shoes are still made by hand in the St James factory in Northampton, England, where the company has manufactured continuously since 1873. Each pair takes around eight weeks and more than 250 individual manual operations to complete. Reported production capacity is around 5,000 pairs per week, with roughly 70% exported worldwide. All Church's footwear is Goodyear-welted, allowing repair and resoling at the factory throughout the shoes' lifetime.
TO BUY
Further information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church's
Further research reading
Region Made
Northampton, Northamptonshire
