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Yesterday I received my third pair from the mythic Japanese bespoke shoemaker Eiji Murata, alias Main d’Or. Shoes made literally to perfection, incredible craftsmanship and finishing. Here’s loads of pictures of the masterpieces.
It’s lovely to see how much can be done just by enhancing things a bit, like the shapes of the last on this seriously amazing bespoke sample made by Patrick Frei and Kazuya Kimura. It’s essentially a regular soft square toe, but with curves and angles carved to perfection.
Shoemakers are in general quite artistic and creative people, and it often shows also in other areas than the specific footwear. One such example is the shoe trees, where we can find awesome pieces made by bespoke makers and/or their shoe tree makers. Here’s a look at some of my favourites.
In the middle of Paris, a stone’s throw from Champs Élysée one find not only Berluti’s large flagship store, but also their large workshop for bespoke shoes. A big, well-trimmed business where shoes of absolute world class are manufactured. Shoegazing paid a visit.
This old bespoke sample above from George Cleverley is a nice example of how them, and some earlier British makers like Nicolaus Tuczek, made their bottoms back in the days. A slim, very asymmetrical waist and a small, short heel with a heavily curved breast (the heel part facing front) and only brass nails in the back.
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.
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.
After ten years at Gaziano & Girling, Swedish bespoke shoemaker Daniel Wegan left the company this autumn to start his own brand. This spring, Catella Shoemaker is launched, where the reigning world champion in shoemaking can fully develop his vision of the perfect bespoke shoes.
Alte Art is relatively unknown, even though one founder is one of the pioneers of the thriving Japanese bespoke shoe scene, and the brand has been around for almost two decades. And despite the fact that they create very well-made bespoke shoes, and also some of the most inspiring and fascinating art shoes I have ever seen.
The Hanger Project’s Youtube channel has released its most ambitious project to date, a one hour documentary about the legendary bespoke shoemaking house John Lobb Ltd. in London.
