Joël Albert is the son of a village cobbler from a traditional region of shoemaking. In 1977 he started his adventure of shoemaking in the city of Paris. He completed his Tour de France in 1987, which led him to become an apprentice to the last Saumur equestrian shoemaker. Two years later he opened his own atelier, where he creates modern riding boots, preserving the specific know how from Saumur.