It's rare to cover how versions of a product improve over time. Reviews usually happen soon after release, as does the hype and excitement. Permanent Style covers products years after their purchase, of course, but that's more about how they’ve aged through wear, rather than how the brand has refined them.
Brands themselves often don't talk about this product development either. For one thing it's dry and technical, particularly when the changes are small. But the other reason is you're basically telling existing customers that in the past they bought an inferior product.
As you might expect, all these are reasons why I find it an interesting area to cover. One I’m going to look at today is the Sagan shoe from Baudoin & Lange - because I've worn almost every iteration in that improvement process over the years, and because being a bigger brand now, they don’t talk about it much themselves.
In the nine years since it launched, the Sagan has changed the suede used for its upper; added structure inside that upper; changed the sole twice; created a different insole; and altered the last shape.
The changes I find the most interesting are the hidden ones. For example, the first Sagan deliberately had no structure in either the toe or the heel. This made it soft to wear, and in the early communications you often saw the two shoes pressed together - soles outwards - to show how the shoes could be squashed flat.
The problem with that of course, is that you sacrifice the benefits of structure - a cleaner looking shoe, a shoe that has more of a hold on the foot.
Three years ago the shoe was changed to add a latex-rubber layer around the heel counter, giving it more structure. The good thing about that rubber compound was that the shoe could still be squashed flat - the rubber just bounced back. Most shoes use leather, plastic or a kind of cellulose board.
Last November, the same layer was added to the toe. The early Sagans were great - a real step-change from other Belgian-type shoes - but over time they usually got a fold at the very front of the toe, which made them look worn and faded (visible in its early stages below).
The latex-rubber layer was added to stop this from happening, but it was also run a little way down the sides of the shoe, which lessened another effect - the wearer’s toes being visible pressing against the soft sides.
One issue with Sagans in the early years was that while lots of people liked them, they didn’t fit them. The last was narrow, and if you sized up the heel could slip off a little.
Actually it’s interesting, listing all these problems, how much I liked the shoes back then as did others. I think it shows how much development a product often needs, and makes me wonder about how other products I like could be improved.
Anyway, the fit was changed early last year when the last was altered, and quite substantially - almost 8mm was added across the widest part, around the ball. The heel was also narrowed.
It’s actually surprising how similar the current shoes look to the older versions, given that change. Shoe design like this is a fascinating area - always a matter of millimetres, and about balance and proportion, from every angle, back to front and side to side. I find it’s why bespoke makers sometimes struggle with it.
I got a new dark-brown pair of Sagans recently (above) and while the old ones fit me fine at the front, these are definitely an improvement. The heel holds better as well.
The other change I really notice is the insole. It’s now in two halves, with the back half leather and the front suede (below). That suede half is perforated.
The idea was to help the foot breathe and to slip around less when it got sweaty. The latter has not been a problem for me, but then I don’t sweat much. The suede certainly feels comfortable however, and I can see why it would work.
Interestingly, this kind of perforation and helping the foot breathe is important in the winter too - it’s when the foot gets wet that it’s most likely to feel cold.
There have been lots of other changes to the Sagans. The suede of the upper has been improved, to one with the same silky feel but less of a nap, which wears down less. The leather sole was changed to one with a smooth finish (and then, unlike the rest of these changes, switched back again).
The rubber sole version was added two years ago, probably the best one I’ve seen for its similarity (from the side) to leather. It’s sanded on the side to have a similar texture to leather, and the heel stack even has layers that are sanded and some that aren’t, to look like the layers of rubber and leather in a regular heel.
There have been small changes to the rest of the structure, though the important thing the Sagan had from the start is still there - the foam padding that is cut into the insole rather than being a separate layer, which is why the Sagans always looked sleeker than other Belgian-type shoes.
I feel quite personally connected to the Sagan, given Permanent Style was the first place to talk about them nine years ago, when Allan Baudoin was still operating from his sofa. As I said I’ve also worn them ever since.
But I genuinely think this kind of product development is one of the best things about them - and one that doesn’t really get talked about given they’re such a big company now. Many of the current designs aren’t my style, but they’re all iterated in this kind of way.
The broader question of changing products over the years is also an interesting one, and I’d be interested to hear readers’ opinions on it too - how do you feel if a brand changes something a year or two years after you’ve bought it? Do you like the fact it’s been improved, or do you feel swindled that you got an earlier version?
