Description
In a humble workshop in their Cape Town home, Karl and Hildegard Zeppel founded a small shoemaking business. Having grown up in a shoemaking family in Germany, they began producing comfortable German-style wooden clogs and cork sandals. Demand for their shoes exceeded all expectations and in 1975 Green Cross was born, laying the foundation for what was to become one of Southern Africa’s most-loved shoemaking businesses. The couple rapidly outgrew their home office and set up shop in New Church Street, only to move to even larger premises in Salt River two years later.
During the 1980s, the Zeppels’ sons joined the business and construction of the Epping factory began. Today, Epping remains the proud home of Green Cross Shoemakers, where over 400 craftsmen produce the majority of our beautiful leather footwear collection every year.
