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Yesterday the legendary Swedish bespoke shoe and bootmaker Janne Melkersson sadly passed away. After over 45 years in the trade there wasn’t much about shoemaking he didn’t know, and he spent the last decades passing this knowledge on to others. A beloved man that will be truly missed.
New podcast episode with the British-based bespoke shoemaker William Efe Laborde, in a talk where we focus on connecting historic shoemaking, materials and tools with today’s. Among many things you’ll learn which area of shoemaking that he thinks is at an all time high now in present time, why the tools never can be made as good as they were before the World War II again, and much more.
Here’s a substantial review of all the amazing competition shoes – 29 black balmoral boots – that entered the World Championships of Shoemaking 2023. Info about the makers and the shoes, comments, pictures of the shoes and in some cases also the manufacturing process. So much shoe greatness.
This is part two of the big walkthrough of all competition shoes in the World Championships of Shoemaking 2023. Here position 11 to 29 are reviewed with comments and pictures.
The shoes above all have a really high stitch density on the sole seams, with from the left 18, 16 and 14 spi (stitches per inch). Already the lowest one is a high spi for bespoke shoes, but Eiji Murata of Main d’Or isn’t really an ordinary maker. Now, the 18 spi version doesn’t really go well on actual customer shoes, with today’s leathers it becomes too fragile, but 16 spi I have on my latest pair from him.
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The Japanese not only excel when it comes to shoemaking, they are also leading the way when it comes to informative Youtube channels on the topic. One channel that everyone who are interested in making shoes by hand and all it involves should follow is Crazy About Shoes, run by Ken Hishinuma of the bespoke shoe brand Khish the Work.
Time for another Question and Answer special with Daniel Wegan of Catella Shoemaker. An interesting talk that among other things cover why he think that independent shoemakers is the future and what bespoke shoemakers need to do to continue to be relevant.
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There’s been too many of these lately. News about great shoe people passing away. Now the iconic French bespoke shoemaker Stephane Jimenez has deceassed after a period of illness, at a too young age. A shoemaker that perhaps wasn’t the most famous name for a wider audience, but highly respected among shoemakers and shoe aficionados around the world.
The blog Die, Workwear is an establishment in the more serious menswear sphere, with often long in-depth articles on various aspects of men’s style. Most recently he has published what’s could be described as an essay on the history of bespoke shoemaking, with focus on the UK and how internet is saving bespoke shoemaking.
For bespoke shoemakers or aspiring ones, there’s a constant hunt for good tools. The fact that many of the best quality ones were made decades ago makes this even more difficult. Luckily, there’s a few good places to turn to, one of them is the online shop Shoemaker’s Toolmakers which sell vintage tools and shoemaking materials.
