Like most kids, George Vlagos had big boots too fill, literally, wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps. He wanted to one day take over his father’s shoe repair business. It’s not easy following a legacy that someone else has set out before you, but Vlagos never took no for an answer because he knew it was his calling. The “no” he heard was, not surprisingly, his father cautioning him from following the same path he did. He reminded his son that he didn’t get a Master’s degree to run a shoe repair.
“He wanted me to think that I shouldn’t work with my hands,” Vlagos says of his father.
Well, Vlagos not only filled the big boots, he created his own boot entirely. Oak Street Bootmakers was born when Vlagos realized that many people still want well-made shoes, but the option in our current society just isn’t there anymore. Vlagos now has his own shoe brand, after traveling the world to search for the best materials. After this journey around the globe, he found the best leather was right where he started…at home in Chicago, Illinois, working with Horween Leather Company. It’s the American-made concept.
“My dad has very much lived the American dream…growing up I spent all my time in the shoe repair…I fell in love with working with shoes, with my hands,” Vlagos says.
Often times, we search the world to find what it is that makes us happy. Vlagos and his family are a sage reminder that sometimes, you don’t have to travel far to find your legacy …it’s simply a matter of going after what you truly love to do and for Vlagos, that happens to be working with his hands.
