It took José Luis Rivera 22 years to fully learn how to make a pair of handmade soccer cleats. He was taught by his father-in-law, who once made a pair for Pelé.

His wife’s family has made custom soccer cleats in Mexico City for generations. Rivera began as an apprentice to his father-in-law, David Rivas, who for more than four decades dedicated himself to making shoes that rose to fame in the 1970s on the amateur and professional soccer fields of Mexico. They were called Colmenero.

When Rivera married Rivas’s daughter, he was 20 years old and the 1986 World Cup in Mexico was approaching. With no job prospects, he began helping out in the Rivas family workshop. His first tasks were simple, like cutting patterns in the leather. But little by little he began to learn which textures were the best fit for each part of the shoe, and how to handle the sewing machine. The last skill to perfect was attaching the sole and the studs. Once he mastered that, he was finally able to fit a whole pair together himself.