Český Krumlov / Czechia
Bambas Art on náměstí Svornosti in Český Krumlov sells leather shoes for women and men, with hand-painted bags and belts.
Best for Hand-painted shoes and bags
Shoes of Czechia
6 stores · curated ORBIS register
Visit official site ↗Žižkov, Prague
A vintage shop selling clothing, accessories, jewelry, bags, shoes, and collectibles, with much of its stock sourced from former Czechoslovakia.
Best for Vintage clothing, jewelry, bags, and collectibles sourced from former Czechoslovakia
Bohemian Retro is run by Rebecca Eastwood, a British-born textile designer who has lived in Prague since the early 1990s and studied textile design in the UK to postgraduate level. She opened the shop in Žižkov, one of Prague's traditionally working-class districts now known for its bars, galleries and independent stores, building a stock of clothing, accessories, jewelry, bags, shoes and collectibles spanning roughly the 1920s through the 1980s. A significant share of the merchandise is sourced from the former Czechoslovakia, giving the shop a distinctly Central European character rather than the more generic Western vintage stock common elsewhere in the city. Eastwood has spoken publicly about the growth of vintage clothing as a retail category in the Czech Republic, describing how local interest in secondhand and period clothing has expanded since the shop's early years. The store operates on a limited weekly schedule, open Wednesday through Saturday, and Eastwood is known for offering hands-on styling help to customers browsing the racks rather than running the shop as a simple walk-in retailer. The result is a small, personally curated vintage destination shaped by one owner's decades of residence in the city and professional background in textiles, rather than a chain or a reseller operating at scale.
Visit official site ↗Michal Pavlas
Hidden GemMichle, Prague
A bespoke shoemaking workshop producing hand-sewn made-to-measure shoes and leather accessories. Homo Faber states that Pavlas began his shoemaking career in 1990.
Best for Hand-sewn made-to-measure shoes and leather accessories, handcrafted since 1990
Visit official site ↗Zlín, Czech Republic
Shoe company founded 21 September 1894 in Zlín by siblings Anna, Antonín and Tomáš Baťa. Tomáš's switch to canvas footwear during an 1895 cash crisis, plus American-style factory management he studied firsthand, built it into a global manufacturer.
Best for Heritage footwear; Shoes, Boots, Footwear
Bata's history began on 21 September 1894, when siblings Anna Baťová, Antonín Baťa and Tomáš Baťa opened a shoemaking workshop in Zlín, then part of Austria-Hungary and now in the Czech Republic, with ten full-time employees on a fixed schedule and regular weekly wages. By the following summer the young company faced serious debt; Tomáš responded by switching part of production to canvas shoes rather than leather, a cheaper line that sold well enough to clear the company's debts by 1897.
Tomáš later traveled to the United States to study contemporary factory management and wage systems, and brought those methods back to Zlín, restructuring the company so employees shared in profit and loss and could earn bonuses tied to output, an approach that became central to the company's identity as it grew into a mass manufacturer. He also served as mayor of Zlín from 1923 to 1932, shaping the town itself around the factory.
Guinness World Records has recognized Bata as the largest shoe manufacturer and seller in history, crediting the company with more than 14 billion pairs of shoes sold since its founding. Zlín remains the historical seat of the business, home to Bata-built factory architecture, workers' housing and a company museum from the Baťa era.
Visit official site ↗Botas
Hidden GemCzech Republic
Czech sneaker brand tracing to 1949 in Skutec, East Bohemia; its 1966 canvas Classic model was so ubiquitous it gave Czech the generic word for sneaker, 'botasky.' Design duo Jan Kloss and Jakub Korous relaunched it as Botas 66 in 2008-09.
Best for Czech leather sneakers and retro sports shoes
The original Botas company was established in 1949 in the small East Bohemian town of Skutec and became a major Czechoslovak sports-shoe maker; its 1966 canvas 'Classic' model became such a fixture of daily life that 'botasky' entered the Czech language as the everyday word for sneakers. In 2008, graphic design students Jan Kloss and Jakub Korous, then studying at Prague's UMPRUM art academy, began a school project reworking the historic shoe in new colors; the project won a European Design Award and led to the 2009 launch of a standalone label, BOTAS 66. The brand has since built collaborations, including with carmaker Skoda, while continuing to manufacture in the Czech Republic.
Visit official site ↗Salon Lawart
Hidden GemMalá Strana
A traditional bespoke shoemaker producing hand-welted, custom-made shoes with old workshop techniques and individually carved wooden lasts. Erik Martin Lawart founded the salon in 1995; the current official site lists its Malá Strana workshop and emphasizes entirely local hand production.
Best for Hand-welted bespoke shoes on individually carved wooden lasts
Visit official site ↗Curated ORBIS register · official links shown where recorded