Today the British brand Gaziano & Girling introduced their new Optimum MTO range, it’s shoes made by their bespoke workshop to bespoke standards, but on their regular RTW lasts. The ambition is to make the absolute best craftsmanship available to more people. Shoegazing has had a look at a sample from the new range.
When Gaziano & Girling was launched in 2006 by Tony Gaziano and Dean Girling, they introduced a bunch of features that one hadn’t really seen, at least in a long time, on factory-made Goodyear welted shoes, and their premium segment footwear looked more like how bespoke shoes looked than what one was used to for factory-made shoes. Then a few years later they presented the Deco range, available as MTO, which was another step up in terms of sleekness, slim waists, construction details etc. Now they’ve gone the whole way. With Optimum range, you basically can’t get further in terms of material and make. G&G’s bespoke has a reputation as among the best bespoke shoes you can get, and now this level is made available as Made to Order on the brands regular standard lasts.
One of the first samples of the Optimum range. The model Grant in Vintage Oak, on the DG70 last, made to bespoke standards, so hand lasted, hand welted, handmade sole stitch, hand-built heel and so on.
You can basically choose any model in any leather on any last from Gaziano & Girlings extensive stable of offerings, small modifications of patterns are possible, like removing a medallion or similar, and you can also do small addons to the lasts for improved fitting, like built up the instep more or add at the inner ball of the foot or similar. You also choose specs like type of sole, straight or tapered heels etc. The shoes will then be made fully handmade by the in-house bespoke department which houses on the top floor of their factory in Kettering, Northampton, to exactly the same standard as their bespoke shoes, with hinged lasted shoe trees included. Delivery time is approximately four months. The price is hefty – €3,850 (£3,300) including VAT for shoes, and €4,200 (£3,600) for boots – but I’d say it’s quite understandable.
Lovely sole.
I’ve had a sample of the Optimum range here at home, to get a real look of them. Now being an owner of several pairs of Gaziano & Girling bespoke shoes, I do know the standard, and this sure is on that level. They are made by their main bottom maker Kiichiro Ozeki, previously at Hiro Yanagimachi but he has been at G&G for a couple of years now, and he is making things extremely clean. It’s more or less completely flawless, the only thing I still think Kiichiro can improve is having the heel stacks more levelled all along towards the breast edges, but now we are really nitpicking here. What I was most hesitant about was how the arch support would end up, it’s one of the key reasons for getting fully handmade shoes in general and bespoke shoes in particular, that you can get a level of arch support not really possible when making machine-made shoes, and since they use regular RTW lasts I wasn’t sure how it would be with Optimum. Now I haven’t been able to try them on, but judging by the look of it the arch really comes in well and the heel stiffener goes along the whole arch, as is standard on their bespoke, so I’d believe one experience a clear improvement on this regard compared to the regular RTW/MTO.
Here one can see how nicely the arch hugs inwards, towards the very narrow waist.
10 spi (stitches per inch) sole stitching, very neatly done.
Tapered heel.
For those who really like Gaziano & Girling and find their lasts to fit good, and at the same time want to step up the game to the absolute top level of shoes, the Optimum range sure is a nice addition. Also for those who never would be able to visit England or one of their trunk shows for full bespoke, but want to get as close to that as possible with a remote order, can have their wish fulfilled now.
To get a better view of how Gaziano & Girling’s bespoke shoes are made, which then is the same as Optimum now are, read this article here following the making of a pair step-by-step.
Top view.
Seriously sleek.
Posture like a race car.
Here’s the Optimum range Grant (to the right) compared to a regular RTW range Strand without medallion (to the left), both in Vintage Oak on DG70.
Not that welt finishing is bad on the RTW shoe to the left, but when done by hand to top level you sure get something else.
Soles. Now Optimum to the left, RTW main line to the right.
Hinged lasted shoe trees included.
Finish off with some of G&G’s photos of other Optimum range samples.
Very sharp stuff.
Of course they had to make a version of the St. James II in Vintage Cherry.
Kiichiro Ozeki in the workshop. Last four photos: Gaziano & Girling
Thank you for this write up. These new G & G shoes look fantastic. Is the level of finishing and attention to detail on par with Yohei Fukuda and Stefano Bemer’s top level shoe?
Lucien: These are better, if you talk about the RTW/MTO ranges Fukuda and Bemer offer. Those both have machine stitched soles (hand stitched waist on Bemer), these are fully handmade, in the same manner as G&G’s bespoke or Fukuda’s or Bemers full bespoke (Sixpence, not Blue which also is machine stitched soles).
Drop Dead Gorgeous! I’m sure they will be many interested in this type of offering. If I ever have £4000 burning a hole in my wallet, I’d get straight to Savile Row and knock on G&G’s door…in the meantime, I’ll have to stick to what I can pick up on Ebay 🙂
Tony
Anthony: Yeah I think there’s a market for it as well, even if it’s not huge, but all is relative. But indeed it costs.
“arch support not really possible when making machine-made shoes”
Edward Green makes arch support with beautiful bevelled waist and tapered heels on their Top Drawer shoes.
Sergey: Yeah, but it’s still not really comparable to the arch support you get in this type of shoes. Bevelled waists and tapered heels I didn’t talk about here, that you have on €400 RTW as well, like TLB Artista which actually has slimmer waists than Top Drawer (although of course TD is way better in most regards anyway). Top Drawer is more comparable to G&G Deco, but it’s way off Optimum, TBH.
“Top Drawer is more comparable to G&G Deco, but it’s way off Optimum, TBH.”
Jasper, I fully agreed with you. G&G much more made by hands. Tony is an Artist and G&G company is already very luxury brand. Unfortunately Edward Green and Mrs.Freeman have stuck in the early 2000s. Top Drawer range with still Goodyear-welted construction looks very strange in nowadays. MTO Optimum by G&G stands much more higher in comparison with EG TD. That is true.
Since we’re talking about EG and other brands, where would you put Meccariello Argentum in comparison with those?
D: Which one of them? There’s Argentum RTW/MTO, Argentum Hand welted and Argentum Dux, all with different specifications.
I was thinking of Argentum Hand welted
Let me rephrase my question: when you can have a fully handmade shoe like the Meccariello Argentum for the same price or even a bit cheaper, is there any reason (outside of style and fit) for going with, say, Edward Green? Are the leather and the finishing significantly better?
D: Argentum hand welted is not fully handmade, they have machine-made sole stitching. But sure, Meccariello offers a lot of bang for the buck in all his ranges. Compared to Argentum HW, I’d believe EG do have a bit better finishing and leathers, but then Meccariello better construction and more advance construction details, etc. What one value is up to each person.
I think the only difference between the Yohei Fukuda RTW and the Optimum range is the machine stitching of the outsoles (against Stefano Bemer Tradizione the only difference is better heel work on the Optimum range). My understanding is that now the Optimum range is around £5,000. To me YF RTW is the real winner here at about £1,900 as I don’t really care too much about the machine stitching of the outsoles and if you fly care about having a bespoke type heel then Stefano Bemer Tradizione is the winner at £1,500 for a pair. I have examined all three models (and own examples from two) so have a basis for my opinion!
“don’t” not “fly”.
I’m a big fan of Edward Green but to be honest can’t personally see the value in the TD range.
Jesper thanks for the post. Just to note that according to Stefano Bemer their Tradizione line has hand stitched outsoles and both the Tradizione and YF RTW are made to bespoke standard other then YF machine stitching the outsoles and having different shoe trees. In fact from a finishing perspective having seen both YF RTW and the Optimum range I would say YF RTW may have a slight edge (a bit better better fudge work for example on the sole edges in my opinion – in face it is so good I can never see the stitching thread no matter how hard I try!). At the end of the day however if someone wants to spend £5,000 on a pair of Optimum Range shoes then they are more than free to do so as they are lovely shoes. I am only putting forward my own personal observations.
Nezar Alabbas: £5,000 is the full bespoke price. Optimum is still on the level mentioned in this article, AFAIK.
All these shoes are superb, Optimum, Bemer Tradizione, Fukuda RTW, and one can add for example Acme, Vilalta’s top fully handmade MTO offering, Meccariello’s Aurum, etc. More a matter of personal preferences, and what one is looking for, and think is worth paying.
I’ve been following the development of Fukuda’s RTW a bit and given him input on welt finishing etc, it was challenging to achieve proper fudging matching machine stitching. They’ve managed to achieve it neatly, even if stitching and hence fudging is relatively sparse compared to how he and most others normally do hand stitched outsoles. However, if one see or not see the sole stitches is not saying anything of objective quality, it depends on what the maker has set out to achieve, for some it’s important to have marked visible stitches, for some one use thinner thread and work to hide it. None is better than the other per se, it’s just different ways to go about it.
Thanks for sharing Jesper, very helpful as always.
I recently commissioned a pair from Yohei Fukuda – MTO but opted for the fully handmade option (hand-welted, – stitched and – soled) for an additional cost, so essentially the same concept as the GG’s Optimum line. The total for Yohei’s was around £2,200. The current price for GG’s Optimum is around £4,300 (including VAT). To me, the difference is significant and and the price charged by GG to be somewhat excessive compared to that of Yohei Fukuda (as I am assuming that the quality of their bespoke shoes are comparable).
Could you please kindly share your expert view on this, and possibly give your insight into the difference in the quality between these two brands’ fully-handmade shoes on RTW last?
Many thanks,
Alex
Alex: There’s still some difference in how the MTO fully handmade Fukudas are made, by the small workshop who manufacture these shoes (a bit similar to how Bemer’s blue bespoke compares to Sixpence bespoke, things are more streamlined with pre-prepped parts, slightly simpler ways to do certain parts etc), and how the in-house bespoke department of Fukuda makes the bespoke shoes. So G&G Optimum is for real bespoke but with RTW lasts, Fukuda fully handmade MTO not quite. What that difference is worth, is not for me to say. The quality level here is very high in all aspects in all cases.
Thanks for explaining Jesper.
So for example, Stefano Bemer claims that their Tradizione line shoes are made to the exact same quality standard as their Sixpence bespoke shoes with the exception of the fact that it is made on a RTW last – this has been repeated said from their sales manager and also by their CEO in his interview with Permanent Style (while they openly admit that the blue bespoke is machine soled (partly)). Does that mean that these makers are hiding the points you explained from ordinary customers (who do not have much idea what goes on internally) for marketing purposes? In which case, I would be very disappointed as I (and I’m sure many others) have purchased several pairs relying on what they said.
Alex: I was talking about their previous set-up, where they had Blue bespoke as a slightly more affordable bespoke, and Sixpence bespoke as the “regular” full bespoke offering. They skipped Blue bespoke a couple of years ago.
Hi Jesper, thanks for explaining on SB’s blue bespoke.
In relation to Yohei’s products, I must provide you with the correct info. Just heard back from him confirming that his handmade MTO is exactly the same as his fully bespoke shoes (with the exception of personalised last): “Our Handmade MTO and Bespoke shoes are made by the same maker. So the quality of the shoes is the same.”
Alex: Aha, well there you go then.
So back to my first point if you’re happy to discuss.. this will be comparable (or I believe could even be better) than GG’s Optimum – yet there’s a price difference of more than £2,000… don’t you think?
Alex: Wouldn’t say one is better than the other, at that level just made slightly different. I think it’s great both options are around, there’s many who own G&G shoes and know fit there who can get a better made shoe with Optimum, even if they cost a lot.
Thanks Jesper. I guess my point is that despite the comparable quality, there is such a huge difference in the price between Yohei’ Fukuda’s and GG’s fully-handmade MTO. I personally believe that Yohei is the real winner here as his shoes offer the best quality while being reasonable in the price. Maybe within Europe, some may choose to pay for optimum, but once they know what’s offered by Yohei, I would certainly invest all in his.
Alex: I don’t think it’s that simple. With that logic, you should buy Acme instead of Fukuda, cause they start at only £1,200 for RTW (~£150 more for MTO) made to the same standard as high-end bespoke. But for you, Yohei Fukuda is the best option. For someone else, for various reasons, it’s G&G Optimum, for a third, it’s Acme, a fourth it’s Bemer Tradizione and so on.
Thanks Jesper. I certaintly agree that everything, in the end, depends on one’s personal taste. My point was actually centred on the level of craftsmanship, finishing and overall quality, in relation to the price of the shoes in question – i.e. I’m sure there are objective, rather than subjective, criteria for evaluating shoes in your World Championships in Shoemaking. That being said, I think Yohei’s shoes are better in quality than ACME or Bemer’s Tradizione shoes, even if the latter two are also fully handmade. However, the fully handmade shoes from Yohei Fukuda and G&G are up to a similar standard/quality, I believe. Hence, I was making a comparison between the two brands in terms of value (as the quality is comparable).