So, my friend Tommaso Capozzoli has this pair of shoes. They’re bespoke, by Stefano Bemer, and made in their replica Russian-reindeer leather. They seem to go with everything he wears, from grey flannel to cream linen, and have real character with...

These bespoke oxfords from Stefano Bemer are the best fitting shoes I have ever owned. The zenith of - from a fit point of view - everything that bespoke should be. But before I go into the product, I want to talk about the style. Because whatever t...

  As many of you will know, master shoemaker Stefano Bemer sadly passed away last year. Since then his Florence workshop has been in something of a mess, with bureaucracy and financial problems holding back the reorganisation of the company. Fortuna...

 Stefano Bemer is remembered for his generosity more than anything else."He had the biggest heart," one shoemaker told me in Florence, back in July. "He was very inventive and a great shoemaker. But he wasn't necessarily the best in the world at eit...

During our trip to Florence earlier in the month, it was lovely to see how far Stefano Bemer has come since its takeover last year by leather-makers Scuola del Cuoio. The bespoke and ready-made shops, together with workshops and offices, have been co...

 After two and a half years I finally received my first Stefano Bemer bespoke shoes last month. And what beauties they are. I was initially measured by Stefano, who also oversaw the creation of my last. But it wasn't until earlier this year that I ...

While at Stefano Bemer I had a fitting on what is easily my longest-running order for a pair of shoes. The process started back in January 2012. A combination of company upheaval and very infrequent travel to Florence has meant that only now, two yea...

Despite the inquiries readers often make during the pop-up, we have no plans to open a permanent shop. However, we have started working with a few friends around the world to make it easier to try on the various shirts and polo shirts. Last year, S...

Last night was the official launch of Stefano Bemer shoes at New & Lingwood. It was an important moment for both companies: the first time Bemer bespoke and RTW shoes have been available in the UK, and the first external brand New & Lingwood has ever...

Stefano Bemer, a great man and shoemaker, died yesterday. I had the privilege of knowing and working with Stefano earlier this year. He was, as is probably obvious from the tributes that have followed his death, a wonderfully warm and welcoming man...

As I mentioned earlier in the year, Stefano Bemer shoes has been relaunched following Stefano’s sad passing and the subsequent tribulations. This is great news for anyone that was a fan of the man, his company and his legacy.  As part of this rela...

Man, I love the pop-up shop. It's being going so long now that I know exactly what it will be like, and I look forward to the atmosphere, the chats, and the conversations with readers. It's exciting putting your products out carefully on display. It ...

As the last post on building a wardrobe - focused on Neapolitan tailoring - proved popular, I thought I'd do a second looking at shoes. But rather than look at my whole shoe collection, which numbers more than 40 pairs and would take a long time to...

   Florence is best known as a tourist destination in the summer - the Uffizi, the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio - and a menswear hub in January and June, when it plays host to the men’s trade show Pitti Uomo.  But it has enough unique shops to mak...

While in Florence last month, we took the opportunity to film some of the practical videos we've produced in the last year, with artisans based in the city. This is the first, with Stefano Bemer, talking about buying a first pair of bespoke shoes:...

“It was really eerie, Simon, with all the tourists gone." “I know that was the same everywhere," says Simone Abbarchi (above), "but seeing the Piazza della Signoria empty made it feel like we’d gone back in time. Like the Medici could just step...

This summer there were several launch events at Pitti Uomo. Kenji opened up in Florence again, with his new Tie Your Tie store (small but lovely); Benedikt had his Shibumi showroom with new tailoring; it was effectively the launch of Neapolitan trous...

I’m pleased to say that the ‘Permanent Style Presents’ pop-up shop will be back on Savile Row in September, featuring six new brands, and a dedicated week for Bryceland’s.  We will be in the same place, in the same format, as was so success...

  A discussion in front of an audience cannot be long. Particularly when most of them are standing. An hour - max - minus 10 minutes or so for questions. So we had 50 minutes for the talk at our Accessories Symposium, shared out among the six speak...

Everybody loves a bargain. I think one reader referred to it as the ‘siren song’ of cheaper-but-quality clothing.  The reference is often apt. Enthusiasts of anything expensive are drawn to the idea - like hypnotised Greek sailors - that they c...

This article was originally written back in 2014. Back then I had tried seven bespoke shoemakers, and nothing in Japan. Seven years later, the number has more than doubled, and the spread is wider - also encompassing some semi-bespoke and some remo...

People did different things over lockdown. Talking to Tommaso Melani, owner of Stefano Bemer shoes, it turns out he started resoling trainers.  Stefano Bemer has a talented in-house team of shoemakers. They’ve made me three pairs of beautiful besp...

This series of posts on building a core wardrobe has proved incredibly popular - and now has its own dedicated Guide page here.  I’m sure it’s useful to guys that are just starting out, trying to decide whether to get that versatile pair of b...

A Stefano Bemer bespoke solePlease remember, loyal readers, that I am now writing every week - indeed, twice a week - for The Rake online, which is expanding into a great source for international artisanal articles.Recently we have had posts on:- Lor...

  Before the public part of Tailoring Symposium in June, we all gathered next to the pool at the Four Seasons to have a chat about tailoring and its future, with The Rake busily making a video of the event in the background. This was perhaps the m...