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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 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.
Some innovations in the shoe area do not survive very long, no matter how practical they actually are. One such example is heels with rotating rubber top piece, so that when you have worn down the back one could easily turn the wheel and get a new part to wear on. Mainly due to aesthetics this didn’t hit it off, and today the solution is forgotten.
Browsed passed this image on the computer, and was struck by how much this signaled a bygone era. Double monk shoes that were all the rage 5-10 years ago, here my pair from Vass on the U last in Antique Cognac which I loved dearly, but had to sell since I weighed about 20 kilos less at that time and they became too cramped when I gained weight.
Another year coming to an end, and another decade. A decade that has meant radical changes for myself, where I have gone from a given career as a journalist through a number of years as a communications manager to now working with shoes and e-commerce full time (80% at Skolyx, 20% for Shoegazing).
Christmas is a celebration of traditions, and here at Shoegazing it means a Christmas oozing image of fine shoes, so also this year. I also wish all of you readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Really well-made closing, which is the assembly of the upper part of the shoe, is a delight to behold. The shoe above from British bespoke shoemaker Nicholas Templeman is one such example, where an elegant hand-braided stitch makes an otherwise ordinary apron derby stand out tremendously.
Ippo is a Japanese manga comic book that follows a young Japanese bespoke shoemaker’s everyday life. Nice enough, English translations of the first two volumes are available online, where you can read the comic book free of charge.
One of the most interesting bespoke shoemakers today is Atelier du Tranchet / Tranchet Vif, run by Christophe Corthay and Christophe Algans, which not least the above is proof of. A heel built of very thin stacks of coloured leather, which creates a gorgeous rainbow heel. Also briefly about an interview with the me in Scandinavian Man.
