Princess Beatrix in 1939 wearing her shoes
The brothers Frans and Frie van Elshout started making shoes in a small workshop in Drunen Brabant in 1931.
Their father Piet van Elshout also worked in the shoe industry and started working in the company in 1934, later on more family joined them so that it became a real family business and was registered as Schoenfabriek gebr. Elshout.
It became a success and the company grew steadily and in 1936 the brand name “REX” was introduced for luxury women’s and children’s shoes.
On April 26th 1939, the company received an order from princess Juliana to make some children’s shoes for princess Beatrix, who was born a year earlier. She ordered them in 6 different colours.
On the inside was the brand name “REX” and above it a crown.
The princess came to pick up the shoes personally.
Princess Juliana in the Rex shoe factory photo© schoenvisie.nl
After this assignment, “Beatrix” shoes became very popular among the Dutch people. So the factory made a Beatrix series in the colours of the Dutch flag, red white and blue.
In 1949, the now Queen Juliana ordered shoes for Princess Marijke.
During the war, production was regularly stopped by the Germans, there was even a group of people in hiding working secretly.
In 1947 the company name became N.V. REX shoe factory.
Due to increasing competition from abroad, the factory had to close its doors in 1968.
The shoes that Juliana ordered are now in the Royal Collections.
Info from: schoenvisie.nl
Koninklijkeverzamelingen.nl
Historisch Heusden
Photo’s from our collection of the Beatrix shoe series in original box © DenRonCollections
