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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
Good things come to those who wait. Back in April I went up to Maine on a top secret mission that I am finally ready to reveal (in two parts) today and tomorrow. As you would guess my mission was shoe based, to go to a factory specializing in hand sewn shoes and document everything while my friend worked out the details for a very special collection of shoes that I will reveal for the first time tomorrow.
I have gone to lengths to show as much of the play-by-play as I could without giving away what brands were being manufactured. (Out of respect for the factory owners who were gracious enough to allow me to poke around.) It was my first time in a shoe factory in Maine and the workers seemed either curious as to my presence or decidedly ambivalent. The shoe making process from start to finish seems fairly straight-forward, workers prepare the leather and operate the pneumatic press to cut the various components. Those pieces and parts are shuttled down the line on wooden racks to a series of people who assemble sections until the shoes start to take shape. Eventually the leather parts make their way to a group of hand sewers who work diligently and skillfully to guide their three-inch needle back and forth until the signature moccasin toe is complete. After the hand sewers are finished, the shoes are attached to their soles — either with adhesive or sewn on — touched up, inspected and packaged. It looks fairly simple, but the process requires a great deal of skill and leather experience. Photos of the shop and some seriously good looking shoes after the jump.
There are a lot of options out there for canvas sneakers these days. Seeing as I tend to be resistant to change, I have continued to buy and wear Sperry Stripers. The one brand that has caught my eye and made me want to update my footwear game is California’s SeaVees. The company recently collaborated with industry color specialists on a special group of simple Pantone inspired designs. Ironically the new Pantone White release — which celebrates the Summer solstice — is devoid of all color. Just like I like it.
Every year at the beginning of spring I have the same thought. “I should throw away all of my spring / summer shoes and start over with just the classics.” Do I ever build up the guts to do it? Not so much. But since this is the internets and I’m free to play with hypotheticals, this is what my dream team would look like. Everything I need, all that I want. Classic. Shoes that work for 2009 and 2049. Are there other scenarios that could be played out here? Yes. The good news is, I’ll leave it up to all of you to name your summer all-star starting line-up in the comments, thereby saving your lowly steward some grief.
There is an excellent article on brogues by Dogulas Hart in Vice Magazine (yep, you read that correctly, Vice wrote about brogues), which I think is worth a closer look. The article was posted a little while back, but it is still intriguing to see the old time institutions continuing on, same as ever. It is interesting to hear what Fred the Shoe has to say about everything from the deadstock that he “can’t be bothered” to sell on eBay, to one of my most coveted labels, Trickers. Be sure to click over to Vice to read the entire article. (Found via Bloke and Coke)
Vice: So people just know you as Fred?
Fred the Shoe: Fred the Shoe.
That’s a great name.
Don’t go taking the piss, son. That’s just the name I got given. All the old boys down the pub end up with names, just the way it goes.
How long have you been working here now?
Well, the shop has been here since about 1860 or ’61. The BBC recently done a thing on the Walworth Road about the shops and how they are still going. It’s not changed that much.
