Slippers made in Augignac, on Route des Charentaises, since 1947
Three liquids, mixed, brought to temperature, then poured into a mould: this is how the Airflex™ sole is born in Augignac, a patented sole that holds 55% air bubbles. The injectors who master it train for nine months. The story began far more modestly, in the attic of François and Yvonne Dogneton, smallholders in the village. There Yvonne cut, stitched and assembled felts and fabrics on her sewing machine; the couple packed the slippers on the pavement in front of the house. In 1947 the business moved into a workshop in Augignac, in the Périgord vert, and has never left: Airplum slippers are still cut, stitched, injected, trimmed and packed within the same walls. La Poste has since renamed the road Route des Charentaises.
The range follows the seasons: Charentaise-inspired slippers, some lined with sheep's wool, mules, clogs, ballet flats, bootees, summer styles on Dordogne cork or espadrille-style pairs on a rope sole. Sizes run from 24 for children up to 46, and the Airflex™ models go in the washing machine at 30°C. The company holds the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label. The rest is best discovered pair by pair on the brand's site.
A sole designed, patented and injected on site since the 1970s, by injectors trained for nine months. A workshop that has not left Augignac since 1947. And a story that began in an attic, with a sewing machine, which the brand tells in detail on its site.
