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I'm a huge fan of unlined suede, but EG's lining is extremely soft and comfortable, so i'd feel bad about missing out on that.
It’s really strange to think that a brand that specializes in $1500 shoes and has enough demand that it can barely satisfy custom orders is actually just barely scraping by financially.I also feel the unlined trend might be a clever way to increase the margins, since as a reminder to us all who like EG, their financials are not really incredible. Also, it seems that few users are comparing EG lined to EG unlined, but instead bought EG unlined and liked it. This I cannot negate, but since the feedback seems to be that the EG lining is very good, I again really do not see a non-financial argument to offering only unlined.
It’s really strange to think that a brand that specializes in $1500 shoes and has enough demand that it can barely satisfy custom orders is actually just barely scraping by financially.
The ultimate loafer?
For quite a while I've been considering which loafer would be the most versatile, stylish, and comfortable. After some (okay, admitted, a lot of) research I've settled on the Barksdale, an old model made for RLPL. It features a very nice full strap (more masculine than the Montpellier), an heel seam, and a quite unique semi-split toe.
View attachment 2271245
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However, I think it would look better on the 184 with a rounded seem, and EG has confirmed they can do it, as well as making it unlined. The leather would be dark brown cordovan (Cognac Crup).
The price quote from EG nearly made me faint, though. So my questions are two: would anyone be interested in joining this make up as a GMTO through The Hand? And your thought on the make up, worth the money?
Cheers,
SKM
EG posted 2023 results some weeks ago and is operating at 4.7% net margin, which I think is astonishingly low for a luxury company selling, 1'000+ GBP shoes. As per their own words:
"the challenging retail environment continues to produce volatility and uncertainty for our business. Wholesale demand has been inconsistent but our customers, particularly in Japan, USA and Italy are increasing their orders, although are not yet back to peak quantities of 2017-8. Bulk stock orders are being replaced by more MTO or smaller lines from our stock".
This and the fact that unlined shoes are cheaper to make, leads me to my statement.
Just because they're making luxury product doesn't mean they have huge margins. Porsche was bleeding money in the 90s making aircool 911s until they made some dramatic changes.
Unapologetically unlined for a warm fall day in NYC:
I wore EG, CJ & Alden loafers and these Harrows were the only ones to garner compliments.
At any rate, some shoes, loafers mostly, are better for me unlined. On top of that, some EGs are unlined only. Harrows for example. I like them. I’m not going to mess around with having a pair of lined loafers made up (a necessity with my size) when the Harrows work as well as they do, not at EG prices.
As for the financial aspect, are lined shoes really more costly to make? There’s a plausible argument that Alden would not make their Brooks Bros. version unlined shell loafers for anyone else because they cost more to produce.
I didn’t mean to imply that it was strange for anyone to think so, I was saying that the facts of the matter were perplexing.I agree with you, I was replying to the above poster that stated it was strange (for me?) to think that a company offering expensive shoes and having long lead times, could not be very successful financially.