News of the launch of the Wolverine 1000 Mile collection first came in February of 2009. It was around that time that I met some of the people from Wolverine and wrote about the collection. Later, Wolverine invited me to a little event they put together in the city and I got a chance to meet all of the people involved in the 1000 Mile line — all good people. After that we started talking more and eventually Wolverine hired my public relations firm to help out with the 1000 Mile Collection — which has been a lot of fun. (In case you missed it, that was my full disclosure.)

A project that we have been working on over the past several months is the special edition, limited-quantity Wolverine 1000 Mile boot with the imprint 721LTD. The undertaking, which is named for the original 1000 Mile boot reference number, was pulled directly from the company’s archives from over 125 years of boot making. To celebrate the provenance of the 721LTD boots, Wolverine commissioned a film series (directed by my friend Sean Sullivan) to document the journey of these unique 1000 Mile boots. The opening chapter takes you on a pilgrimage to Chicago to visit the Horween leather company, America’s finest tannery and supplier of shell cordovan to the 721LTD 1000 Mile boots.

I’m proud and excited to share this short film with you and to take you inside Horween, a truly special place and national treasure. These kinds of projects are what it is all about for me. To work with good people like the folks at Wolverine, Sullivan and all of the people at Horween on something as legitimate as the 1000 Mile boots.

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Pacific Northwest bootmaker Danner recently gave its website a little sprucing up (punny, I know), and I have to say things turned out very well. The new site is clean and simple, easy to navigate and features some great imagery. One section in particular really stood out and was the inspiration for this post. The top navigation bar features a main section called Standards, which features four factory tour videos, plus a few great looking photosets. It goes without saying that I love a good factory tour and the Danner Standards page definitely scratches that itch.

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A fine collection of gentlemen and an equally delightful selection of leather shoes. The Juggernaut that is Engineered Garments teamed up with one Mark McNairy on a second capsule collection of English made shoes centered around the classic longwing shape. The collaboration consists of four co-labeled styles (even the way the shoes were labeled is fun; the Engineered Garments logo stamped directly on top of the Mark McNairy New Amsterdam mark right in the footbed) in two colors (black and brown), which will hit stores this coming fall (I shall start saving up now). Check out the chukka longwing and the upland boot longwing in pebble grain — both competing for the title as my favorite.

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With the arrival of arctic weather on the East Coast my Bean Boots (the Gumshoes) have been in heavy rotation. Actually, I have the habit (bad?) of wearing those Bean Boots nearly round the clock. In my twisted mind they are shoes (not boots) and there doesn’t need to be snow or slush anywhere in sight for these bad boys to see action. The thing about wearing those boots when temperatures are in the teens (and below), socks are the key to comfort. Enter Fox River Mills — my wintertime sock manufacturer of choice. Fox River Mills is the perfect convergence of necessity, function and style. Plus, their prices are reasonable and I will give you one guess where they are made.

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ACL dispatched Mister Mort to Paris to report on Anatomica, one of the city’s best men’s shops. Actually Mort was not dispatched, he went under the guise of a holiday, but we all know he just went to hit the flea markets and take street style photos. Anatomica is nestled on a quiet street right off of the famed Rue de Rivoli and sells an eclectic selection of French, Japanese and American goods, including goods under its own label.

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The Brooklyn shop Epaulet recently took a trip up to Middleborough, Mass. to visit the factory of the venerable American shoemaker Alden to finalize the details on the shop’s new special edition Brixton boot. In addition to coming back with a great looking pair of boots, Epaulet owner Mike Kuhle and filmmaker Tom Eaton put together an interesting look at the Alden operation including the video below and a nice photo gallery. American boots and a factory tour? Sounds like a perfect Thursday to me.

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Footwear week rolls on with my last reveal of highlights from the Mark McNairy SS10 collection. The man got a lot of ACL play this week, but the shoes are strong so why fight it? With the fall 2009 collection hitting stores, and the McNairy Bass Weejuns making their first waves, it is time for a new round of English made goodness. In my mind it is not since the P-51 Mustang has there been such a beautiful Anglo-American partnership. Okay, I’m going crazy but the shoes look damn good. The collection (along with the new Bass Weejuns) will be on display at Capsule this coming week.

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You have to hand it to the folks at RRL, when they do something they do it right. Through my thorough detective work I got my hands on photos of a limited edition pair of bench-made leather boots. As one would expect from RRL, all of the bona fides are present and accounted for. Made in the USA from Horween leather with vintage deadstock Cat Paw heels. The super small quantity (multiple dozens) will be available mid to late August at RRL stores for $750. Rumor is each shop will get a few pairs and that is it, so if you want them you have your work cut out for you. More photos after the jump.

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Speaking of tasseled loafers, check out this pair of vintage black leather Royal Imperial Florsheim shoes that I scored at a thrift store for $8. Made in the USA, natch. Eat your hearts out. Since we have already covered so much footwear ground I think I’ll just finish out tomorrow and Friday with more shoe / boot coverage. It is officially footwear week at ACL.

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ACL’s chief trend correspondent Mr. Mordechai Rubinstein runs wild on the streets of Manhattan bringing the business.

Mort is back with photos of tasseled, kiltie and Belgian loafers. There is a interesting article from The New York Times discussing the history of the American tasseled loafer from 1993 which I excerpted below.

“Tasseled loafers so much evoke the elegant era of the 20′s that some clothing historians mistakenly believe they date from that time. They became popular, in fact, only in the post-World War II era.

The Alden Shoe Company in Middleborough, Mass., claims to have invented the shoe after World War II at the request of Paul Lukas, who was a well-known and debonair actor. Mr. Lukas, who appeared in films like “The Lady Vanishes” and “Watch on the Rhine,” asked custom shoemakers in New York and Los Angeles to devise a version of a shoe he had brought from Europe that had little fringed tassels on the ends of the laces.

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How can you improve on an iconic shoe? That is exactly what Mark McNairy was tasked with when creating his new co-labeled collection of Bass Weejuns. Obviously the shoes had to be made in Maine and from high quality materials like Horween Shell Cordovan and real alligator. And naturally the shoes had to have a twist. What Mr. McNairy (who is also the J. Press creative director and has his own English made shoe collection under his name) accomplished is nothing short of genius. Granted I’m biased, but there is not one pair of shoes in his collection that I don’t want to steal. When I first found out about the new collection I was so happy that Mark was going to be designing everything — I couldn’t think of a better man for the job. What is pictured below is about one fifth of the special Weejuns collection. (The full range will be at Capsule next week if you are a store and want to buy / see the line. The shoes hit retailers come SS10.)

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Made in America | Hand Sewn Shoes from Maine from Michael Williams on Vimeo.

Made in the USA | Hand Sewn in Maine II from Michael Williams on Vimeo.

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