The Spanish brand Meermin has been grown rapidly since they launched their brand in the European and US market a few years ago. They sell Asian manufactured shoes with great designs direct to customers, which means very affordable prices. Here’s a review of a model from their basic Classic collection.
The pair who are being closely looked at.
FACTS:
Brand: Meermin
Model: 101482
Leather: Tan Country Calf
Read: Hiro (standard width)
Size: UK10
Sole: Double Dainite
Price: € 160 (the pair reviewed is a free test pair)
The manufacturer
Meermin is a Mallorca-based company, driven by a branch of the famous shoe family Albaladejo, who also owns Carmina. But Meermin and Carmina has nothing more in common than the fact that the people behind them are related to each other. Meermin started up their business back in the beginning of the 21th century, but in the beginning they only sold to the Japanese market through retailer. Some years ago they started up the business for the rest of the world, and this time they work only with direct sales. At first they only sold through their store in Madrid and soon took orders via mail, and the word spread fast through among other channels StyleForum. After they opened the first proper webshop they have grown explosively and today is clearly one of the hottest producers on the classic shoe market.
Meermins shoes are manufactured in China in a factory where the Albaladejo family for several years has been working hard to teach the Chinese in traditional footwear production. The finish is then made in Spain, probably because they want to be able to put a Made in Spain stamp on them, a process which may be discussed. But even if the production in China isn’t something that Meermin advertises, it’s not something they ever tried to keep secret.
Meermins standard Classic collection (price €160/about $185) is Goodyear welted with a bit cheaper materials, for example they use split suedefor this line and the heel stiffeners are made of thermoplastic, while the top line Linea Maestro (€ 260/about $300) are hand welted and hand lasted with leather board heel stiffeners and in the case of suede it’s reverse calf. All of which is quite unusual in this price range, especially the fact that they are hand welted. It’s of course the China production and direct sales strategy that allow them to have these prices. Meermin also some Norvegese stitched shoes and some made of Japanese shell cordovan.
Somethin Meermin has worked very succesful with is their image building, much thanks to their work in social media. Picture: Meermin
Ordering
As mentioned Meermin can either be purchased in their store in Madrid, or ordered through their website. For questions they have service over mail. Because of the massive pressures on Meermin and its staff, they literally get many hundreds of e-mails every day, there are some who feel that they have to wait long for a response to queries, and sometimes do not get a response at all. Be patient, and e-mail again if it has gone as long as a few weeks. Hopefully Meermin will have the possibility to recruit new customer service personnel soon to solve this issue.
Meermin has struggled with long delivery times in recent years, something that partly has been solved with their change to another type of MTO’s. They don’t take individual MTO’s anymore, now they have something they gall Group Made to Order-models on their website, where they continuously offer special make ups of different sorts, both made to Classic and Linea Maestro standard, which then are pre-ordered from a number of participants and when enough has ordered it’s put into production. A quite clever way to do more specific make-ups, and it has proven to work well and several other brands has followed this model.
Their group MTO section on the website.
When it comes to their regular stock they still have the problem that all models are shown as in stock in all sizes all the time, when it sometimes is not and have to be manufactured and therefore have alonger waiting time of usually one sometimes two months in general. If they are in stock, delivery time are often within one or two weeks.
They also are working hard to improve the quality control, which from time to time fails and shoes with defects are shipped out to customers.
Meermin has probably grown a bit too much too fast, but hopefully they will settle into things and solve problems continuously to in time have a very solid working business model and customer service.
General info about the shoes
Meermin’s shoes are delivered in a brown box with only one shoe bag in the same color. It’s a pity that they only send one bag, then the whole point of a protective case disappears if one is to have both shoes together. You could almost ignore the bag completely.
The model with the quite unsexy name 101482 is a quarter brogue in grain leather and a double rubber sole which makes a sturdy shoe, while the oxford model and the relatively slim last makes it still is reasonably elegant. It’s a shoe great for late spring, early autumn or rainy summer days. Personally I definitely would have preferred single rubber soles, it would have fit the shoe even better and it would have made them even more suited to their purpose.
The review was first made on the Swedish version of Shoegazing a while back, so this model is not being sold at the moment.
The Hiro last is a classic round last, quite English in style. As you may notice on this picture there is a slight color variation between the two shoes. Not something I care too much about though, since it’s hardly noticable especially when worn.
Construction and materials
The model I received from Meermin is from their Classic collection, hence it’s Goodyear welted. There is no doubt that it’s a budget shoe. Overall, they feel okay in building quality, but there are some flaws like a couple of crooked seams, a mark in the leather and such things, but nothing remarkable that one can not count on for a couple of cheap benchmade shoes. The double sole Meermin have had difficulty to make the edge of the sole closely cut in the arch area, so it looks a bit rough and not to neat to be honest. Another deficiency (which, however, applies to virtually all budget shoes and also some manufacturers which is more expensive) is that they use plastic in the heel stiffener. It affects the comfort, more on that in the next paragraph about the fit.
The upper leather is absolutely of good quality for shoes at this price. Anyone who is expecting any miracles will be disappointed, it shows the use of some poorer parts of the leather, for example, the quarters. The scotch grain embossing is nice, and it feels like the shoes can withstand some rough conditions reasonably well. The sole is a copy of a Dainite sole, which reportedly will wear a bit faster than the original, but nothing I have noticed yet. The shoes are also well balanced, with the sole touching the ground even when the whole heel section is on the ground (even though I know the significance of this is debated).
From the back. One can see that the surface of the grain leather has been smoothed out at some spots, probably to them being handled in different situations in the factory. Not something that’s a big deal in my opinion though.
Meermin’s own copies of Dainite soles.
Maybe not the neatest of closing work, but nothing that sticks out for benchmade shoes in the lower price ranges.
Here you can see how the sole edge isn’t too neatly done in the arch area.
Fit
The Hiro last is at the same time elegant and traditional, with a rounded toe and with fairly sharp lines. A bit similar to for example Vass F last or Crockett & Jones 236. The shoes I have isin size UK10 which is usually my standard size, and I would say that the shoes are relatively “true to size”, to use a somewhat vague expression. They were initially a little tight over the ball area, where the foot is at it’s widest. It stretched after a few uses though.
Where I had the most problems fit-wise was the heel. As mentioned they have a plastic heel stiffener, and whenthe shape doesn’t fit the heel well from the beginning it becomes a problem since it doesn’t mold to the feet the same way as a leather heel stiffener does. In return, however, the cap extended relatively well into the arch, which is unusual as this type of cheaper shoes. For me, it provided a nice support.
Something many experienced is that Meermins shoes are very hard in the beginning, and take their time to go. Except for the heel which I’ve already mentioned I can’t say that I felt that they were too hard really, at least not for a double soled shoe, but of course they needed some time to break in.
Compared to Loake Aldwych on the Capital last, which is the reference shoe for fit here on Shoegazing, Hiro is smaller a bit smaller overall than the Capital last, although the overall fit characteristics are quite similar. For example both have a bit roomy heel areas and normal instep.
The Hiro last is relatively normal in fit, maybe just a tad narrow in the toe area.
A size comparison with some other more or less classic round lasts. From the left: Vass F, Loake Capital, Meermin Hiro, Crockett & Jones 236 and John Lobb 7000.
From left: Vass F, Loake Capital, Meermin Hiro, Crockett & Jones 236 and John Lobb 7000.
Summary
Meermin 101482 Tan Country Calf is undoubtedly a good budget quality shoe, which is very affordable. However, one should not expect any miracles, they have their flaws, but to expect perfection for the 160 euros are just naive. The Linea Maestro line is although a bit more expensive, to my experience also overall nicer and might be worth the price. If one is to make a comparison with other manufacturers, something that is always asked for, I would say that they are roughly equal in quality to for example Loake 1880 or Herring Classic (manufactured by Loake and Barker). Those examples are all more expensive though, so Meermins business model with production in China and direct sales means that you get a lot for your money. Even though Meermin have had their share of problems they still established themselves as a major player in the budget quality shoe market, and if they get a hold of all these issues they really are a player to count on for the future.
At last some pictures of the shoes after they’ve been worn like 10-15 times.
Another one.
Shoes, water, autumn in Sweden.
I’m just concerned that the “Free Test Pair” they sent you may be of a higher quality than normal?. Next time it may be an idea just to purchase a pair and review them rather than making the company aware you are doing a review on your blog and them giving you a pair don’t you think?.
Carl: It’s always hard to balance these things, but if I wasn’t accepting pairs for review I wouldn’t be able to test as many brands as I can now. I both buy shoes which are reviewed and reveice free pairs for reviews. Of course it could be that brands check the shoes a bit extra before sending them to someone who will review them, but it’s not like they make special review shoes or anything. And of course I’ve handled and also owned other Meermin shoes except this pair, and nothing that has gotten me to change how I feel about them.
When I receive shoes for free for reviews I always write that, to be open with it and let readers have that info with them. And towards the brands I always tell them that even if they have given me the shoes, I will write whatever I feel about them, also criticism if that’s the case (which as you can see I have some towards the pair above as well). I always try to be as objective as possible, and if I would praise something and write somethingthat wasn’t correct it would backlash at me when people tried the products themselves with a completely different picture. If you as a reader don’t want to trust my reviews though, that’s of course up to you.
Hi Shoegazingblog.
I do trust the honesty in your reviews but being cynical I’m not 100% certain I trust the company’s sending you the free products. In this case as you say you’ve seen and handled other Meermin Shoes and I’m not saying they’ve sent you anything other than a “normal” pair of shoes but I’m sure some suppliers would double check the quality prior to sending you a “free” pair knowing you are going to review them on your blog. I’ve reviewed a number of “Fine Dining” restaurants on TripAdvisor but never tell the restaurant I’ll be doing a review. As you say obtaining a free pair allows you to test more brands. I don’t mean to sound doubtful or distrusting, keep up the good work. Carl.
Excellent, thoughtful review. I was familiar with the Meermin brand but learned so much about them from your post. Thanks for taking the time to educate your readers; I know more about what to look for in a shoe after reading this review.
Carl: I understand what you mean. I don’t think though that there can be too much of a difference between a shoe being checked before a review and what most customers get. Also, thanks for your kind words!
Leslie: Thank you very much, really appreciate it!
Hi J Ingevaldsson,
Nice review. I was told by the personel of Meermin at the shop, that the Linea Maestro was H. Welted here in Spain. Do you know whether this is true or not?
Thanks.
Rafael: Thanks! That’s not true, a bit of a shame that the store personnel say that. They are made in their Chinese factory, and then finished in Spain. But the hand welting definitely is made in China.
Thanks for your kind unswer J. Ingevaldsson,
So the outsoles and heels of both lines are mounted in Spain, is that what you mean?
Thanks again.
Rafael: I’m not sure exactly what is done in Spain, but since they refer to it as “finishing” I don’t think it’s any of the making, which includes stitching on outsoles and putting on heels. It’s probably only applicing color and polishing things up, maybe sole edge finishing and putting in the sock liner, things like that, which is done in Spain.
Thanks a lot again.
I bought a pair of Meermin’s DARK BROWN CALF shoes this autumn. They are as pretty as uncomfortable. After having wearing them for half a day I had to leave the office because my heels were literally bleeding. I then went to a shoe shop to soften the shoe’s back heel. They were surprised of how stiff the leather was. I wrote to Meermin´s customer service to share my experience, sent them a picture, and kindly asked them to get a refund or replacement. They answered me with a template email refusing to refund. If you want quality shoes and want to avoid feet injuries, I would recommend to look elsewhere.
I bought a pair of Meermin’s Oxford shoes this autumn. They are as pretty but extremely painful to wear. Customer Service is also poor. They answer with template email and no signature. If you want quality shoes and want to avoid feet injuries, I would recommend to look elsewhere.
Al: Sorry to hear that you weren’t pleased with your pair. Meermin’s Classic line are known to have quite hard heel stiffeners, although I didn’t experience it that bad. I understand that you would like to have your money back, but at the same time I understand that Meermin can’t accept that if there is nothing faulty with the shoes, if they have been worn. Hard heel stiffeners is not a factory error or anything like that.
That is a problem of bad fit.
Rafel: Yeah could be.
I have had a big issue with the customer service at Meermin. They take forever to respond, and don’t take anything seriously. Worst customer service I have ever experienced. Any ideas how to solve this?
RK: I’m sorry to hear that. I know they receive 100’s of e-mails everyday and are lacking the staff to answer them all properly, unfortunately. Maybe you can call their Madrid store and see if you can get some answers to anything more specific from them.
Hello, are those Loake capital’s the same size as the Hiro? I’ve heard that one should size down by half
Will: Yes they are the same size, and the Loake’s are much more roomy. Sizing down would be good, especially if you choose between two sizes.
Excellent Review! You mentioned that they had questionable customer service. My only issue with Meermin has been their customer service. I have been emailing them for over three months and have still not heard back. I sent them a pair for exchange because they sent me the wrong shoe, and I am very worried and annoyed, as I have made the payment already, but have not received anything. You seem to know Meermin well, is there anything I can do?
Their customer service is terrible to say the least. They take forever to respond to emails especially after you pay them.
How are the shoes as of 2016?
This is a HORRIBLE company. They sent me defective shoes and I sent them the pictures of defects and asked for replacement. They said they would arrange for pickup and replacement. Its been more than a week and they neither arrange for pickup nor reply my email. I have also communicated via facebook with no luck. I don’t know what to do with the defective shoes. BEWARE OF MEERMIN!
S: I understand your frustration, but hopefully it will be solved soon. They are very few in the company compared to what people think, and struggle with keep up with the customer service. It might therefore take longer than a week to solve a thing like that.