The Bespoke Shoes Thread

[epsilon22]

I haven't worked with Emiko, but I also love her designs. There really is a great young generation of bespoke makers trained at the West End heritage firms who have gone out on their own now. Emiko carries on the Foster/Maxwell traditions, Nicholas with Lobb, and Louis with Mogada the Cleverley/G&G heritage.

Speaking of which, I saw a pair of Mogadas get posted to the gram in the same "chocolate calf" that I just ordered my first MTM pair in:

Nothing beats great aniline/box calf leathers for me.

Yeah I think it's a really exciting time to live in, and hopefully it's a good sign for the future of the craft that these independent makers can succeed on their own. I just need to make more money so I can spend more money on shoes. 🤣

Edit: For some reasons I thought Fukuda was a G&G alumnus due to the styling, turned out he worked at Cleverley instead. Kawaguchi (Marquess) was the Japanese shoemaker that worked for G&G, and I thought his style looked more like Foster instead. I'm not a good judge of style lol.

 

[schteekay]

that is a terrible example of norvegese, look at those wide stitches. Lots of makers do terrible norvegese construction including many famous makers.

It's only a stylistic detail in this case, as it is most of the time these days. Not really functional.

 

[ForwardPleats]

Yeah I think it's a really exciting time to live in, and hopefully it's a good sign for the future of the craft that these independent makers can succeed on their own. I just need to make more money so I can spend more money on shoes. 🤣

Edit: For some reasons I thought Fukuda was a G&G alumnus due to the styling, turned out he worked at Cleverley instead. Kawaguchi (Marquess) was the Japanese shoemaker that worked for G&G, and I thought his style looked more like Foster instead. I'm not a good judge of style lol.

Hey, I'm jealous of those of you who can even afford some bespoke shoes! I can only hang out in this thread since Mogada now offers RTW and MTO/MTM. It would be super cool to perhaps see Emiko or Nicholas add a small RTW or MTO collection in the future.

The confusion with Fukuda makes total sense since I believe both Dean Girling and Tony Gaziano worked at Cleverley at some point. There is very much a family tree of Tuczek to Cleverley to G&G, Fukuda, etc.

 

[epsilon22]

Hey, I'm jealous of those of you who can even afford some bespoke shoes! I can only hang out in this thread since Mogada now offers RTW and MTO/MTM. It would be super cool to perhaps see Emiko or Nicholas add a small RTW or MTO collection in the future.

The confusion with Fukuda makes total sense since I believe both Dean Girling and Tony Gaziano worked at Cleverley at some point. There is very much a family tree of Tuczek to Cleverley to G&G, Fukuda, etc.

Yeah I can relate, I was only able to even entertain the idea of bespoke shoes recently, and even now it's a very expensive splurge. I'm aiming to maybe have a rotation of 5-6 MTM/bespoke shoes rather than dozens of RTW shoes for fit and practical (space) reasons.

It might be difficult for some of these shoemakers to expand their offerings given how much demand they already get. Yohei recently announced that he stopped taking new bespoke customers. Hiro is (has been) cutting back travel since at least last year (no Leffot trunk show in 2024, and likely none in 2025), but said he'll still take orders if I were to visit him in Tokyo. Nicholas didn't come to NY in the second half of 2024 (or maybe he did but only announced it to some of his clients?), and my first pair is running a few months late so far. I have confidence he's only doing this out of necessity to maintain his high standards of quality, but it does make me wonder if he can take on more orders, let alone expand to RTW/MTO/MTM offerings.

These are of course just conclusions I reached based on my communication with them, so I could be mistaken. Good signs for the future of the craft, as I said earlier, but not so good signs for us customers' ability to order from the craftspeople we want to work with haha.

 

[Son Of Saphir]

It's only a stylistic detail in this case, as it is most of the time these days. Not really functional.

I am a purist, and l am not a fan of how every Tom Dick and Harry have jumped on the norvegese bandwagon these days. These trends have cheapened the real deal norvegese, and now it has a mere stylistic detail for makers who have not put in the extra work to do it properly. I understand some of the true norvegese makers are appalled by the imposters, and so am l.

I praise makers like Enzo Bonafe, Lattanzi, Branchini, English and French bespoke makers who have chosen to do it right. To the others l say, please just stick to what you do best, leave the norvegese to the specialists who will truly respect the craft by putting in the extra work needed.

Just my view.

 

[L.deJong]

I am a purist, and l am not a fan of how every Tom Dick and Harry have jumped on the norvegese bandwagon these days. These trends have cheapened the real deal norvegese, and now it has a mere stylistic detail for makers who have not put in the extra work to do it properly. I understand some of the true norvegese makers are appalled by the imposters, and so am l.

I praise makers like Enzo Bonafe, Lattanzi, Branchini, English and French bespoke makers who have chosen to do it right. To the others l say, please just stick to what you do best, leave the norvegese to the specialists who will truly respect the craft by putting in the extra work needed.

Just my view.

SC is doing a better job now. In the past it was very much in your face. I'm not a fan, will never order it.

 

[marlinspike]

Wouldn't more spi if it makes a difference actually reduce the water proofness?

 

[jazznpool]

Yeah I think it's a really exciting time to live in, and hopefully it's a good sign for the future of the craft that these independent makers can succeed on their own. I just need to make more money so I can spend more money on shoes. 🤣

Edit: For some reasons I thought Fukuda was a G&G alumnus due to the styling, turned out he worked at Cleverley instead. Kawaguchi (Marquess) was the Japanese shoemaker that worked for G&G, and I thought his style looked more like Foster instead. I'm not a good judge of style lol.

Emiko was $5300 with hinged shoe trees as of last February. I was interested but decided against mainly because of logistics (no SoCal visits).

 

[JohnMRobie]

Plotting out my next commission and have a devil/angel on my shoulder. What say you guys.

Round toe penny loafer with an apron and oval “mask”

Now for the part I’m debating. They’ll be a shade of brown. Leaning something cooler with fewer red shades.

Debating between a croc like the ones Nicholas made.

Counter argument - I’ve got croc penny loafers already. Pro - the ones I’ve got are lower vamp and have more reds and oranges - too bright for darker tailoring

Option 2 - full nubuck croc similar shade to these from Bemer. Maybe a little more understated than the standard croc

Option 3 - A suede - maybe EG milkshake-ish mink but have the strap/mask as this maker calls it in nubuck croc in a similar shade as an accent.

Option 4 - Nubuck cinghiale

Option 5 - Shell. Color TBD. Maybe dark cognac.

What say you bad influences?

 

[epsilon22]

Plotting out my next commission and have a devil/angel on my shoulder. What say you guys.

Round toe penny loafer with an apron and oval “mask”

Now for the part I’m debating. They’ll be a shade of brown. Leaning something cooler with fewer red shades.

Debating between a croc like the ones Nicholas made.
View attachment 2320803
Counter argument - I’ve got croc penny loafers already. Pro - the ones I’ve got are lower vamp and have more reds and oranges - too bright for darker tailoring

Option 2 - full nubuck croc similar shade to these from Bemer. Maybe a little more understated than the standard croc
View attachment 2320805

Option 3 - A suede - maybe EG milkshake-ish mink but have the strap/mask as this maker calls it in nubuck croc in a similar shade as an accent.
View attachment 2320807

Option 4 - Nubuck cinghiale
View attachment 2320809

Option 5 - Shell. Color TBD. Maybe dark cognac.
View attachment 2320811
What say you bad influences?
View attachment 2320815

I like this pair made by Marquess in dark brown alligator.

Japanese Shoes: Bespoke & RTW Super Thread

The borders re-open, well for tour groups anyway! Anyone one for a shoe-tour? These are amazing.

www.styleforum.net

 

[WhyUEarly]

I'd say lean in and get the smooth gator. Shell sounds good in theory but I hate the rolls for something kinda formal.

The nubuck and suede will always be there but youll always ask what if on the gator loafers. If Jensen Huang has upgraded his leather jackets to exotics, you know it's time 😉

 

[Texasmade]

Plotting out my next commission and have a devil/angel on my shoulder. What say you guys.

Round toe penny loafer with an apron and oval “mask”

Now for the part I’m debating. They’ll be a shade of brown. Leaning something cooler with fewer red shades.

Debating between a croc like the ones Nicholas made.
View attachment 2320803
Counter argument - I’ve got croc penny loafers already. Pro - the ones I’ve got are lower vamp and have more reds and oranges - too bright for darker tailoring

Option 2 - full nubuck croc similar shade to these from Bemer. Maybe a little more understated than the standard croc
View attachment 2320805

Option 3 - A suede - maybe EG milkshake-ish mink but have the strap/mask as this maker calls it in nubuck croc in a similar shade as an accent.
View attachment 2320807

Option 4 - Nubuck cinghiale
View attachment 2320809

Option 5 - Shell. Color TBD. Maybe dark cognac.
View attachment 2320811
What say you bad influences?
View attachment 2320815

Bespoke green suede gatorskin

 

[JohnMRobie]

I'd say lean in and get the smooth gator. Shell sounds good in theory but I hate the rolls for something kinda formal.

The nubuck and suede will always be there but youll always ask what if on the gator loafers. If Jensen Huang has upgraded his leather jackets to exotics, you know it's time 😉

Unfortunately for you this pair is going into the rotation and won’t find its way into your luggage like that lizard experiment I did.

 

[L.deJong]

Plotting out my next commission and have a devil/angel on my shoulder. What say you guys.

Round toe penny loafer with an apron and oval “mask”

Now for the part I’m debating. They’ll be a shade of brown. Leaning something cooler with fewer red shades.

Debating between a croc like the ones Nicholas made.
View attachment 2320803
Counter argument - I’ve got croc penny loafers already. Pro - the ones I’ve got are lower vamp and have more reds and oranges - too bright for darker tailoring

Option 2 - full nubuck croc similar shade to these from Bemer. Maybe a little more understated than the standard croc
View attachment 2320805

Option 3 - A suede - maybe EG milkshake-ish mink but have the strap/mask as this maker calls it in nubuck croc in a similar shade as an accent.
View attachment 2320807

Option 4 - Nubuck cinghiale
View attachment 2320809

Option 5 - Shell. Color TBD. Maybe dark cognac.
View attachment 2320811
What say you bad influences?
View attachment 2320815

How, when, where, with what, do you plan to wear the shoes?
How formal?

What you showed is a round toe penny loafer alright, but when I think of a round toe I think of the van last from Alden. For me the examples shown are much too pointy.

I would go for no. 3 without knowing nothing regarding use cases.

1 is nice byt you already own aligator.

 

[DorianGreen]

^^^^

that is a terrible example of norvegese, look at those wide stitches. Lots of makers do terrible norvegese construction including many famous makers.

Here is an example of it done properly. Notice the nice small tight stitches. Norvegese is suppose to keep the water out with a properly secured out-turned upper, but how can the upper be properly secured and keep the water out with a shoe that has about 2.5 spi. The really top norvegese makers spend the extra time to do the small stitches.
View attachment 2320605

I respectfully dissent, the shoe looks neatly made to me, although the stiches (it comes to mind the example from Canons I posted some time ago) could be more precise. The overall look is very good in my eyes, a very elegant and balanced last, far from the excesses often seen on this kind of style.