The story of the name Kogias begins in 1910. The founder was Anthony Kogias, who thanks to his fine art, became well known beyond the borders of Thessaly. He manufactured “tsarouchia”, “gourounotsaroucha” and other local footwear.
It should be noted here, that during those years the village Kastania (Kastania-Καστανιά, means chestnut tree), was a trading center with many workshops, tailors, blacksmiths, merchants and also a school with more than 200 students. Kastania was also the passage of the Sarakatsanas to and from Agrafa mountains.
Antonios Kogias succeeded by his son Evangelos who in 1971 moved his handicraft in Karditsa for the simple reason that the village people slowly left for big cities. We all remember the Uncle Vangelis and his handicraft in Koumoundourou street who repaired shoes and made shoes and from time to time he was making a pair of tsarouchia. Later on, due to livelihood, he was also involved in the shoe trade. In 1980, dance groups gradually began to appear, and the need of making traditional shoes arose.
Elias son of Vangelis, continues the art of making shoes. He moved back his handicraft in Kastania where once his grandfather Antonios founded the first handicraft.
Today the handicraft makes tsarouchia, gourounotsaroucha, women shoes with ankle strap and laces, slippers mostly used in islands, as well as Cretan and Pontic stivania. Under the instructions of an old Cretan shoe maker, our stivania does not have anything to envy from the stivania of the good original shoe maker of Crete.
Our Experience – Our Area of Expertise.
Our workshop is at the same location that first founded in 1910.
Here we make handcrafted, custom made, high quality, traditional and rustic shoes and boots.
Traditional Folkloric Dance Shoes.
Men and women laced shoes, ladies shoes with ankle strap and other custom-tailor made dance shoes.
Women’s tailgate shoes are applied to special last-shoes using a special cotton bottom for a comfortable and enjoyable fit and a special non-slip sole for endless relaxing dance hours.
Women’s Latin tailgate shoes, come with a waterproof leather, special bottom and sole. They are also worn for traditional dances.
Laced women’s shoes, have a waterproof upper, a special cotton bottom and a non-slip sole.
Men’s dance shoes are of many kinds. These include “island slippers” and laced shoes, worn by various folk clubs.
Greek Tsarouchi & “Gournotsaroucha”.
Made in the old authentic way, and completely handmade, Tsarouchia-τσαρούχια & Gournotsaroucha-Γουρουνοτσάρουχα are greek traditional shoes, made of leather.
Crete’s “Stivania”
Authentic crete’s stivania, with perfect sense of wearing, made of high quality genuine calf and goat leather.
Horse Riding Boots.
We make handcrafted men’s and women’s riding boots, of all types (Italian type, German type etc.). We use the best materials for our tailor made boots.
Our boots fit perfectly on the rider’s foot and are compared to only the most quality overseas boots.
“Sellachia” with gampalia.
Authentic sellachia, embroidered with leather stripes, in hand.
Custom-Tailor Made Shoes & Boots.
In our workshop we make custom made shoes and boots from Greek tradition.
For our footwear, we use the best materials and best forms.