All traditionally constructed shoes have heels, although they are now relatively low on men’s shoes. However, this has not always been the case, but when heels were introduced on shoes it was only for men and high heels have been seen as the most masculine you can wear. Here’s a tour through the history of the heels.
The coronavirus hits hard on many companies around the world, and to keep sales going, many now have very generous sales, often on everything in their stores. Obviously a sad reason for reduced prices, but for us as customers it’s a good change at a bargain, and orders are just what these companies need.
How do makers of classic shoes succeed internationally? What are the important success factors, and the pitfalls? How strong is the British shoe heritage around the world nowadays, and what do the growing competition from Spanish, Portugese and Asian-made welted shoes mean? These are some of the topics that Richard Utting, Export Manager at one of Englands largest makers of Goodyear welted shoes, Loake, talk about in episode 8 of the Shoegazing Podcast.
In the article on the Amsterdam super trunk, I showed a new bespoke sample from Patrick Frei / Kazuya Kimura, which was made to look like the really old shoes you see on the shelves of older bespoke companies. As with John Lobb Ltd. in London on St. James Street, where the picture above is from.
Last weekend the first Amsterdam Super Trunk Show took place. A great day with more than 300 visitors and shoes from all over the world showcased, together with shoe care, clothing, watches and perfumes. Here’s a summary in text and lots of pics from the day. Also, briefly about the fact that the London Super Trunk Show has been postponed until October 10.
Passus is a new highly interesting Hungarian brand in the premium segment. The man behind the brand is Reszo Kuti, legendary former Sales Manager at Vass, and they offer completely handmade shoes that combine Eastern European craftsmanship with elegant Western European design.
Many shoe blogs have been started over the years, but unfortunately most are relatively short-lived. One who has been staying around for a couple of years now is Shoe Savante, written by shoe enthusiast Priscilla Leung. The blog deals with high and low in classic shoes with relatively personally written posts.
In this episode of the Shoegazing Podcast the legendary French bespoke shoemaker Christophe Corthay talks about shoes and art. Hear him talk about when he left Maison Corthay, about how he thinks that the bespoke shoe world in general makes boring shoes, and how one of his targets with the new brand Tranchet Vif is to make shoes that people don’t want to wear.
Last week, the winter edition of the world’s largest shoe fair, Micam, was held in Milan, Italy. Shoegazing was there, here’s a summary of the impressions from the fair as well as some impressions from some of the exhibitors.
Usually when I do these picture specials it’s with a new pair I got it from some famous bespoke shoemaker, but thought it might be fun to show off my latest TLB Mallorca Artista pair a bit closer, and get to share some detail pictures on the rather special features you find on those that are highly unusual on Goodyear welted shoes in the midrange price segment.
