Perth Voice Interactive

THE owners of Benelli Shoes may hail from China, but that can’t be said about the footwear.

Five staff design, stitch and fashion about 600 shoes every year at the company’s Osborne Park factory. It’s the only WA shoe company to manufacture shoes locally.

The Voice went on site this week as Shop Small Month comes to a close.

Cutting leathers is Vu Nguyen, who’s worked there almost from the very beginning. “I’m part of the furniture,” he laughs.

Behind him, working, is the boss’s son, Ace Pang, who says the family never considered moving production to its former homeland when it was bought from the founders in 2013.

“Australian-made means quality,” Mr Pang says.

There were concerns the family would import, says sales worker Lizette Van Huyssteen. But those fears were unsubstantiated.

“They run a real West Australian company,” she says, beaming.

Designer Jorge Bernal, an Argentine native, came on board with the company in 2013 after working in high-fashion and on movie sets in New Zealand (he made Orlando Bloom’s boots for The Hobbit).

He says it’s better to invest in niche markets, saying they are able to offer specialised and personalised products.

Compared with his South American homeland, WA has less to offer when it comes to locally made items, he says.

Shop Small Month ended last week.

by EMMIE DOWLING