Two weeks ago, Deborah Carre of Carreducker and I organised a talk among five very different shoemakers, to talk about how and why men are buying bespoke today.
It was scheduled to coincide with London Craft Week, held in Carreducker's leather school, and kindly supported by the Company of Cordwainers.
The shoemakers were deliberately diverse, which I found fascinating, as I so rarely deal with makers outside fine, West End shoes.
They were (above, left to right): Sebastian Tarek, James Kearns, Felix Jouanneau, (myself), James Ducker and Dominic Casey.
I won't try and describe each of their styles - you can see that better on their own accounts and websites. But it covers everything from trainers to brogues to biker boots.
Below are James's bespoke trainers, next to Dominic's dress Wellingtons.
And below are the five examples of their work we had on display.
Again left to right, they were from: Dominic Casey (with his own hand-carved leather), Carreducker, James Kearns, Sebastian Tarek and Felix.
Felix's boot had pulls made from a leather that Felix hand-marbles himself. Lovely.
The video of the talk is below. In just under half an hour we managed to cover:
- how western boots and smart oxfords vary in terms of bespoke fit required
- why everyone now shares information more than they used to
- how bespoke changes depending on how design-driven the maker is
- and what to wear to Burning Man
I hope you enjoy it
Thank you very much to Dominic, Felix, James, Sebastian and James, it was a real pleasure.
And most of all to Deborah for organising and to the Cordwainers for their help.
Filming by Itch Media
