Gabor Shoes

Gabor

Gabor manufacture a vast range of ladies shoes in a range of width fittings, these include Gabor Fashion, Gabor comfort G and H fit and also Gabor Jollys. Gabor boots offer different calf width fittings, many with calf size adjustments. The comfort range is great for those with wider fitting feet.

Deck Shoe

Gabor is a well established German brand made all over eastern and western Europe with factories in Portugal and Austria. It offers a fantastic combination of comfort and style for an affordable price. Gabor shoes are a good choice for fashionable footwear designs that are very easy to wear.

Ballerina

Gabor Quality

Each Gabor shoe consists of up to 250 components crafted from as many as 45 different materials in a process that involves 140 manufacturing steps.
Gabor technical expert Manfred Rother explains the testing criteria behind quality assurance, health and environmental compatibility.

Manfred Rother
Director, Research & Development,
Material Testing

Best leather

Quality inspection at leather acceptance

Barrels in the so-called »water workshop« for tanning and dyeing.For the Love of Leather
They live out of the suitcase, as they frequently travel abroad and hardly spend more than one night in one place ? and all day long they attend to the most important material for Gabor Shoes: The Gabor leather acceptors. Gerhard Olsacher is one of them. Why does he in spite of its many strains still love this profession after 26 years? His reply leaves no doubts: »Leather is my passion.«

Responsibility for Top Quality

On site at the tanneries, Gerhard Olsacher inspects each individual hide before it is shipped to Gabor. Only if the quality is right, the leather acceptor punches the skin with a special tool. »If it has been punched, it can be shipped to Gabor«, he explains. Leather is an expensive commodity on the world market. Olsacher?s decisions affect goods worth millions. Is he doing a good job? The experienced leather acceptor knows if he does not hear any complaints from the incoming materials or production departments. There, only top quality is accepted and processed. The highest demands are made towards the visual, technical and mechanical properties of the leather ? After all, Gabor customers expect top quality shoes. Currently, Gabor is purchasing 65 different kinds of leather, and, as each variety is used in several colours, Gabor lists about 300 »leather items«. Gerhard Olsacher knows them all.

A Feeling for the Fashion

To punch or not to punch? The leather acceptor?s decision is aided by a strict Gabor checklist. Among other things, it features criteria such as strength, hide size, colour, visual appearance, softness and grip as well as various technical characteristics. Of all leather, Gabor demands a high degree of uniformity. Currently, though, about 70 percent of all leather processed is styled leather such as used or shrink appearance styles. Rather individual leather, not uniform by definition. Olsacher has to decide whether the styled leather is within the strict Gabor standard and whether it suits the assortment. He therefore also requires a feeling for the fashion. He must see the shoe behind the leather. Material not suitable for one shoe can be just right for another. At the tannery, Gerhard Olsacher is the man on the spot who makes decisions all by himself. This requires a lot of sensitivity, in his mind and in his fingers. »The leather must have this typical leather feel. I need to touch it and fall in love«, Olsacher explains.