About Us

The Akces® brand is a Polish company that specialises in the manufacture of footwear. We manufacture dance, formal and officer’s shoes, horse riding boots as well as stage shoes for theatre. Each shoe is created with great passion – beginning with the choice of the best materials, through the control of each stage of production, to the preparation of the finished product for the customer. We keep improving our products by collaborating with outstanding persons.

The other segment within the Akces® brand is foot biomechanics. We customise appropriate insoles for dynamic correction of various foot ailments and conditions. We also use innovative solutions consisting in building shoes with orthotics fitted in.

The seat of our company is located in Krakow, No. 8a Gościnna street and our brand outlets can be found all over Poland. Additionally, our products are offered in a lot of partner shops in Central Europe.

1940

Marian Proficz
– a 12-year-old boy, takes up employment, together with his brother Gustek, at an artisan workshop in manual manufacture of regional slippers, so-called ‘zakopianki’ (after the town of Zakopane). This work enabled the whole family to live through the II World War. The biggest problem was good accommodation conditions or, rather, the lack thereof. The whole family were forced to wander about and rely for survival on good people’s help.

The brothers’ enormous determination and virtually amazing industriousness released in them new plans and dreams. Being still teenage youths, they decided to build a house for their whole family. They managed to erect a wooden house on masonry foundation several years after the end of the war.

Despite many hardships, Marian Proficz also gained appropriate education throughout that time.

1956

Marian met his beloved Władzieńka [pet name for Władysława]. After the wedding, he settled together with her and his parents-in-law in a wooden house, in the then village of Wróblowice outside Krakow, where a small farm was operated (photo below). The house where they lived together turned out to be definitely too small. So, together with his wife, after the daily work at a design office and a healthcare centre, they start earning extra money for the building of a new house by stitching and embroidering the aforementioned ‘zakopianki’ slippers.
‘I know this information from stories. The things I started to notice and remember, that is the mid-1960s, are again those regional slippers,  manually embroidered and… my finger, deeply cut with a misfortunately grabbed shoemaker’s knife,’  remembers the current President of the company, Adam Proficz.

In the 1980s,  the ‘real socialism’ forced people to search for new sources of subsistence. Then, in 1981, the idea arose to launch production of slippers. At that time, the village of Wróblowice was already a residential area of Krakow, and the entire locality was famous for the mentioned products. At the peak period, there were circa 1,000 workshops making slippers here. Almost every second house had a notice hanged, or rather attached to a wall of the house or put between window panes, a yellow board with manually ‘calligraphed’ text, ‘MANUFACTURE OF SLIPPERS AND SABOTS’. ‘Even today, I still don’t know what those ‘sabots’ were or what they looked like. As a matter of fact, no one knew but everybody obtained their business licences for activity under such a name. Apparently, those ‘sabots’ were a kind of shoes from the time of WW2 with soles made of worn out conveyor belts. Unfortunately, this is not a 100% certain information,’ remembers Adam Proficz.

In 1981, Marian and Władysława forced through the decision to establish a family company under the heading ‘Manufacture of Slippers and Sabots’. The son Adam was not delighted by that idea, which was only just another duplication of the artisan workshops in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the ‘market’ realities of that time did not provide for much scope for action. Quite soon, it turned out that making the same things as everybody, reliance on the same raw materials, in times of permanent shortage thereof, was very burdensome. The only way out of the situation was to commence something different. In 1987, Adam Proficz joins the company under that graceful name ‘Manufacture of Slippers…’. The crisis related to the great economic transformation had just begun, sales began to diminish until total collapse. Acting on an impulse, Adam Proficz made the decision to o target a different audience. There were substantial fears, however, and everybody was asking themselves: How is it possible to ‘make a living’ out of ballet shoes only? In 1989, the entire Proficz family timidly began to manufacture the first pairs. Later on, the customers themselves began to demand new designs and new kinds of dance shoes. At that time, Marian and Władysława retired but, as parents and in-laws they have continued until today to support Adam and Anna Proficz’s all the new ideas.

Workshop building. Photo from 2004.

2006

Due to the non-standard offer and the character of the activity, we are frequently visited by customers from various parts of the world (USA, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Australia and even Tasmania). In the photos: a German TV team.

2009

The wooden house where Marian and Władysława settled after their wedding currently houses the customer service office and spacious warehouses.

The ‘Akces’ shoe brand was submitted to the Patent Office and enriched with new designs and models, intended for modern and jazz dance, signed by the label Akces Dance.

It has been 20 years since the original idea for manufacturing dance shoes. In those days, when a real crisis hit the economy, it was necessary to take up actions that would have a chance for a development.

2012

It was the beginning of developing the network brand shops across Poland. The first of them was opened in Krakow, at no. 18a Powstańców Wielkopolskich avenue at the King Square Shopping Centre and it has been operating until today.

During that year, the third generation of the Proficz family joins the company – Wojciech, Adam and Anna’s son, Marian and Władysława’s grandson took up management of the newly opened  Krakow division.

The year 2012 also marks the appearance of a new line of professional dance footwear – Proficz Dance Shoes. The products are made at an Akces manufactory on a separate production line that is compliant with the latest innovative solutions and patents.

2013

The first brand shop outside the Małopolskie province opened in Chełm (Lubelskie province). As of that time, altogether 2 brand shops were in operation, and of course the seat at Gościnna street.

2014

The year 2014 is a sort of breakthrough and a firm step forward in the company’s offer. It was then that the brand Akces Medical was created to offer a wide range of services related to foot biomechanics. The most important aspects of the offer under this brand include customisation of dynamic insoles, consultations with specialists and building footwear with orthotic insoles fitted in.

That same year, another brand was established – Akces Hand Made, which offered fully hand-made horse-riding boots, military boots and functional footwear. Having studied for years the arcana of classic methods of making footwear we offer shoes and boots manufactured inter alia with studded or stitched sole.

2015

Wojciech Proficz’s dreams of being the leading manufacturer of dance shoes in Europe are still the strategic goal. In a dynamic way, he continues the development of the brand shop network across Poland. The next shops were opened in Opole (May) and Warsaw (December).

2016

Another two Akces brand divisions were opened in Wroclaw (May) and in Przysiek outside Torun (November).
All over Poland, there are currently 6 brand shops offering the full range of services of the Akces brand.
From a very small family company we have transformed into one of the largest manufacturers of dance shoes in Poland.