Russell & Bromley has been around for more than 120 years but its Heritage line is only a quarter of that, and celebrates its 30th birthday this month.

The Heritage line began in 1983 with a pair of loafers called Rusty (the first Rusty advertisement is pictured). They were the type of shoes a well-dressed but low-key woman would wear, a design that knowingly looked to the past and embraced its menswear connotations, a look that firmly sidestepped trends and somehow managed to be sturdy and sensible and quietly luxurious all at once. 

The Rusty loafer has evolved into the Chester loafer over the past 30 years, but the design has changed little – it is still a tasselled shoe that goes equally well with jeans or dresses and it remains resolutely popular; in fact the Chester loafers, which now come in a variety of finishes and colours and are regularly spotted on Alexa Chung and her set, top the family-owned brand’s bestsellers list most weeks.