If, like most of us, you’re not rich enough to buy cheap shoes, then scoping out the very best quality is paramount when you’re planning a footwear purchase. Markedly more trend-proof than everything else in your wardrobe, handcrafted styles will last you years if cared for properly, so hunting for traditionally-made designs makes sense in more ways than one. From vegetable tanned leather sneakers to Goodyear-welted boots, here are some of our favourite footwear brands putting quality over quantity.
Feit
Founded by Australian brothers Tull and Josh Price in New York City back in 2005, Feit is a leader in clean, minimalist construction, championing quality and environmental awareness over mindless mass production. “Feit was a reaction,” explains Tull. “A desire to return to product and create something special, unique and uncompromising.”
To see these shoes up close is to appreciate that each pair really is made with love. Feit offers a wide variety of styles, from hand woven suede slip-ons to double stitchdown desert boots in a robust material it’s dubbed ‘hairy suede’. But where the brand really excels is in the purist form of its sneaker offering: the ‘biotrainer’.
The world’s first 100 per cent biological handmade trainer, this slick, pared-back style comes crafted from cordovan (an equine leather, or plainly speaking, horse hide), a material usually reserved for the manufacture of smarter dress shoes, which gives the sneaker its supremely luxurious finish.
The key, according to Tull, is in carefully considered materials handled by real people: “The best way for us to offer an unbeatable level of quality is by using a hand-sewn, hand-stitched Goodyear construction and natural materials. Working by hand also gives us flexibility and enables us to create things in small numbers that cannot be created in that scale with a machine or assembly line.”
See More: feitdirect.com
Key Styles
John Lobb
In 1851, the story goes, a farmer’s son by the name of John Lobb started out on what was to be a journey of exceptional accomplishment. Aged just 22, Lobb left his home in rural Cornwall and walked the several hundred miles to London in a pair of handmade boots. Few luxury shoemakers can lay claim to that level of heritage.
Although now owned by Parisian luxury giant Hermès, it’s John Lobb’s rich, distinctly British tradition of craftsmanship, combined with an eye for modern design, that solidifies the brand’s status as a leader in the luxury footwear sector. John Lobb’s ready-to-wear shoes are still handmade the traditional way, with the vast majority produced in the ‘spiritual home’ of British shoe manufacturing: Northampton.
As is to be expected with time-honoured manufacturing methods, there are many steps involved – 190 to be exact, spread over several weeks of production that culminates in footwear of the highest pedigree. Couple this with newly appointed creative director Paula Gerbase (formerly of Hardy Amies and Kilgour) and you’ve got yourself a brand that excels in both artisanal skill and contemporary design.
“John Lobb’s craftsmanship and signature attention to detail delivers such impeccable quality footwear,” says Sam Lobban, buying manager at online luxury menswear destination Mr Porter. “A pair of classic John Lobb shoes, like the double monk-strap or loafer, is the ultimate finishing touch to any smart outfit.”
As well as classic styles like wingtip brogues, suede penny loafers and leather Chelsea boots, the label’s latest offering embraces slightly more directional styles. The ‘Savannah’ canvas Oxford, for example, delivers the sturdiness and premium feel of a leather shoe (it’s leather lined) with the casual ease of a trainer, thanks to its beige canvas uppers.
For autumn/winter 2015, the brand is set to introduce its new featherweight non-welted plimsoll: a slick and simple design featuring rich textures like reverse suede and velveteen calf – not bad at all for a first dip into the sports luxe arena.
See More: johnlobb.com
