Here’s a little game that you could play next time you’re sipping a coffee or having your lunch in the City. Put down your phone for a moment and take a look at the footwear of the men around you. Their suits might be from Savile Row (or, at least, doing a damn good impression of one that is) but what about their shoes? Does their sartorial sophistication end at their ankles?
The answer, all too often, is “yes,” although it shouldn’t be, of course. In fact, these days there’s less of an excuse for this omission than ever before. British luxury footwear is on the march with traditional manufacturers enjoying a new lease of life and exciting young talent breaking into the market.
According to Euromonitor International the value of the men’s designer footwear market in the UK rose from £117.5million in 2010 to £144.30m last year, increasing by 8.40 per cent between 2014 and 2015 alone.
Exports as well as domestic consumption are buoyant according to Mario Ortelli of Bernstein. “The ‘Made in the UK,’ label is very attractive at the moment and in the formal luxury sector men’s shoes are showing a major spike,” he says. Newer entrants are adopting the best of both worlds by using traditional skills and exploiting the brand image of British heritage while introducing more relaxed, comfortable fits and contemporary styling, he explains.
Three years ago Selfridges unveiled what it claims is the largest men’s shoe department in the world at over 15,000 square feet and featuring over 250 brands plus bespoke brand boutiques and a made-to-order shoe section. Shoe sales are up 200 per cent, since the department opened according to buying manager Luke Mountain.
Gaziano & Girling, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in September, brings together the traditional technical expertise of Northampton shoe and bootmaking and the creativity of the London bespoke shoemakers, according to co-founder Tony Gaziano.
With more British shoemaking talent entering the market and renaissance among the long established names there’s really no excuse these days for any guy to settle for second rate shoes
“It’s about style and knowledge,” he says. He and Dean Girling established the business by selling 25 pairs of bespoke shoes to Japanese customers that they’d recruited from their previous employers. The company has recently expanded its factory in Northampton and opened a shop in Savile Row, rather Jermyn Street the home of so many footwear retailers. “We wanted to be alongside the tailors and we’ve always taken a different approach to shoemaking.”
Gaziano & Girling have made shoes for Ralph Lauren – that’s the man himself - and a number of renowned Italian designers as well as Elon Musk. The brand’s British identity blended with the spice of Gaziano’s name has been key to its international success, he believes. “Everyone wants something bespoke these days and more men are realising that their choice of shoes is a great way to express their personality. The trick is to create something that people will notice but which doesn’t scream at them.”
Longstanding manufacturers have also been enjoying new creative stimulus. September will also see the expansion of the shoe department at New & Lingwood with the classic British brand’s growing footwear offering being given greater exposure in the Jermyn Street store. This is in part, according to product and marketing director Simon Maloney, is because of the rising profile of shoes in a thoroughfare with a worldwide reputation for luxury British men’s clothing and accessories.
“It’s important to keep some of the classic features but not to offer the same as everyone else - you constantly need to add some kind of extra refinement,” says Maloney who has designed this latest collection himself. Around 90 per cent of New and Lingwood’s formal shoes are made in the UK. “It’s great to see that the skills are still here and that craftspeople are still upholding the same high standards. I think customers have a greater knowledge now and more of an interest in how something is made. It’s the same phenomenon that we’ve seen over the last few years in tailoring.”
Peter Reed, Sales Director at Crockett & Jones, which has been making shoes in Northampton since 1879, believes that the international markets kick started the trend. “It’s been driven by the Japanese initially,” he says. “They’re very demanding when it comes to quality, originality and authenticity and so they appreciate the best British shoes. Then we saw the French and Italians pick up on it and they started wearing them in different context - with jeans, for instance. More recently the British themselves have started to look again at the shoes we make here.”
Product knowledge is another driver. “Bloggers have been informing people about how shoes and fashion more generally are made and what they should be looking for,” says Reed who has spent his working life in the industry. “People like my son are willing to pay extra for top-quality Japanese Selvedge denim jeans, for instance, because they know all about how and where they’re made. It’s the same with shoes.”
Marc Hare – Mr Hare to you – launched his eponymous Mayfair store in 2009 after running a store called Low Pressure, which he described as “London’s only proper surf shop,” from 1992 to 2005. The dreadlocked Londoner sums up his ethos as: “We make incredible shoes for men who care.” The inspiration for Mr Hare came, he says, when he noticed the footwear of an elderly gentleman at a roadside tapas bar in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain and decided that he could improve on them. A year later his first creations were retailing at the Dover Street Market and a new career beckoned.
Over the last decade Grenson, founded in 1866, has been refreshed under the creative direction of Tim Little. New stores have opened and the brand has collaborated with Vivienne Westwood, Giles Deacon and Lou Dalton among others. Last year it launched a new collection in conjunction with Private White VC, the clothing label that has recently been re-launched by the great grandchildren of the founder and whose creative director is Nick Ashley, former head of Dunhill menswear and son of interior designer, Laura Ashley.
Somewhat confusingly there are two branches of John Lobb following a split in the family firm. The larger company is now owned by Hermès and over the last five years it’s opened stores in Dubai and Beijing as well as further expansion in the US. In June 2014 it appointed designer Paula Gerbase, known for her starkly understated, sharply cut men’s and womenswear label 1205, as its first artistic director. “I am honoured to be entrusted with the artistic vision of the brand and to be part of its future and preserving its ethos of purity and innovation,” she said of her appointment.
Gerbase is subtly updating the collection of classic Oxfords, Derbys, loafers, buckled shoes and boots while John Lobb’s new, more contemporary look is illustrated in her range of high-end sneakers. John Lobb has recently re-launched its By Request service and will introduce this autumn a new ‘Create Your Own Levah’ service. Levah is the brand’s casual plimsoll shoe, inspired by a pair of bespoke tennis shoes found in its archives from the 1920s.
The brand also looks forward, too. As part of its new creative direction Gerbase is overseeing the introduction of sleek contemporary interior designs across all of its 125 stores and concessions featuring organic elements such as wood and stone.
John Lobb Ltd, which is still owned by the family, operates on a bespoke-only basis with a pair of shoes starting at around £3,800 plus VAT at its shop in St James’s. However, points out Jonathan Lobb, the fifth generation of the family to continue the tradition, these will last quite a while.
“We have people bringing them back for repair after 20 to 30 years,” he says. “We’re seeing a new generation of customer, often from the Far East who really appreciate the connection with London and the fact that we have two Royal Warrants.” The craftspeople who create the lasts, in other words the individual wooden models for the shoes as well as the closers who make the upper parts work off site, often at home.
“It’s still very much a cottage industry,” says Lobb. “There’s growing interest again among young people in this sort of work. I think making something with your hands is very satisfying and it beats looking at a screen all day.”
With more British shoemaking talent entering the market and renaissance among the long established names there’s really no excuse these days for any guy to settle for second rate shoes. So, chaps, when it comes to footwear it’s time to put your best foot forward.
The brands pictured in the gallery are John Lobb, Crockett & Jones, Gaziano & Girling, and New & Lingwood
