In 1847, Matthew and Rebecca Wildsmith started Wildsmith & Sons, Military Bootmakers, above a coaching inn off Piccadilly Circus in the centre of London. Making and repairing boots for the Household Cavalry, they quickly came to the attention of the Royal Household who began commissioning their hunting, fishing, and shooting boots. London’s fashionable beau-monde soon followed, and celebrities and city gents alike began flocking to Wildsmith. As the brand thrived, the association with the British royal family grew and a new era of Wildsmith was marked when Raymond Louis Wildsmith designed and crafted the first slip-on shoe in London, the famous ‘Model 98’, the original loafer design that is now a worldwide icon.