Steve Pateman, the inspiration for the film Kinky Boots, has revealed that his family-run shoe company, W.J. Brooks, experienced financial difficulties in the 1990s and turned to producing high-heeled women's shoes in men's sizes for transgender people, drag artists, and anyone who wanted to buy them. The story of the factory in Northamptonshire was later made into a BBC documentary, a 2005 film and a West End musical. A revival of the stage adaptation will feature Johannes Radebe and X-Factor winner Matt Cardle. Pateman's company was founded in 1889 and four generations of family worked there.