One of the oldest remaining shoe and bootmakers in the US are going for a renaissance under new ownership. Shoegazing has visited their store and workshop on central Manhattan, and got a glimpse into the high ambitions of the company to create a new American powerhouse for custom made shoes and boots.
It’s a couple of years since last time, now the premium second hand and samples store Pete & Harry got a hold of a large amount of new Loake shoes that they offer at a steep discount – 50-60% off the RRP. Almost 150 pairs are available, go grab a bargain while you can.
The nowadays undisputed king of sales periods is here, and more or less everyone runs some sort of campaign in conjunction with Black Friday. As always, Shoegazing is here to highlight some of the best ones, to help you find the best deals and get that pair that you both need and want.
With online shopping taking globalisation to a new level and everyone everywhere being able to buy everything everywhere, it’s increasingly important to offer something unique. This is particularly noticeable in the quality shoe sphere, where specific models exclusive to individual retailers are becoming more and more common.
We now open up the fifth edition of the World Championships of Shoemaking, where the final takes place during the London Super Trunk Show on May 4 2024. We have £6,000 (€7,000 / $7,400) and handmade shoemaking awls in the prize pool, and a chance to be showcased in shoe stores around the world. This year a loafer is the competition shoe to be made. Here’s all the info about the competition.
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This Saturday in Tokyo at one of the world’s largest deparment store’s – Isetan Shinjuku – the top three shoes from the this year’s World Championships of Shoemaking were on display, me, third placed Louis Lampertsdörfer and second placed Victor Vulpe were there to talk to visitors about the shoes and the contest, and the latter held a shoemaking masterclass. Here’s a brief summary of the event including a bunch of photos.
I’m currently in Japan, and one of the highlights this far was picking up my fourth pair from the bespoke shoemaker Eiji Murata, alias Main d’Or. An exquisite pair of split toe derbies in a medium brown embossed grain leather, made to the same extremely high standard as he’s known for.
For those who really want to learn to make shoes, or those who want to learn how shoemaking is done, the best first steps is to read books about shoemaking. Luckily, some of the absolute best such ever produced are available to download from free from the website of The Honourable Cordwainers’ Company, in their The H.C.C. Guild Library.
Two weekends ago the first New York Super Trunk Show took place, and what a day it was. About 1,200 shoe and menswear lovers came through the doors and explored the offerings from the 17 exhibitors from around the world, a shoe patina exhibition was held, and the first U.S. shoe shining champs took place. Here’s a summary with loads of photos from the day.
USA is one of the most important markets in the world for classic quality shoes, and few have followed this closer the past decades than Steven Taffel of the New York shoe store Leffot. In this new episode of the Shoegazing Podcast he shares his knowledge on the topic.
