This year, Folkestone Pride is shining a spotlight on the town’s LGBTQ+ history and the cultural roots that helped shape our community. As part of that celebration, we’re highlighting Lacies Fantasy Shopping on Dover Road — a shop with an extraordinary real‑life connection to the film and cult musical Kinky Boots.
On 27 February, Folkestone Pride, in partnership with the Silver Screen Cinema, will host a special screening of the original British independent film Kinky Boots. And for us at Lacies, this story is personal.
Many people don’t realise that the real Northamptonshire shoe factory behind Kinky Boots was inspired by a chance phone call from our own Sue Sheppard, founder and owner of Lacies Shop in Dover Road, Folkestone. . In the photo below, you’ll see Steve Pateman — the real factory owner — standing proudly in his suit and thigh‑high boots, with Sue on the far right.
Sue Sheppard with ‘real’ kinky boots factory owner Steve Pateman] Right Simon from herebeforeus and Ditta a runner up in Ru Paul’s Drag Race
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Steve has openly credited Sue with sparking the idea that transformed his business. At the time, he ran a traditional men’s footwear factory in Earls Barton, near Northampton. Meanwhile, Sue was constantly battling long delays from suppliers when ordering larger‑sized boots and shoes for her customers in the transvestite and LGBTQ+ community.
One day, out of sheer frustration, Sue picked a name and number from an online search and made a call. By pure chance, Steve Pateman rang back. He explained that he had just lost a major contract to cheaper overseas competition and was considering a radical rethink of his factory’s future.
That single conversation — answered in the shop — convinced Steve he was on the right track. He began reshaping his business model, moving from traditional men’s shoes to specialist, larger‑sized boots. His bold shift soon caught the attention of the BBC, whose programme Trouble at the Top followed the transformation of the factory. And again, by another stroke of luck, the documentary caught the eye of an independent filmmaker.
Trouble at the Top: The Kinky Boot Factory aired in February 1999. Viewers who tuned in for the cheeky title stayed for the compelling human story. Steve, then in his thirties, had taken over W.J. Brookes, a century‑old shoe factory, and was fighting to keep it alive in a changing world.
That story eventually became Kinky Boots — and it all began with a phone call from a small shop on Dover Road.
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The story even caught national attention, with the BBC reporting on it back in 2013. LINK TO BBC STORY
KINKY BOOTS BACK AT THE WEST END THIS MARCH 2026
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