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The story of Myrqvist began small, as most things do, but with a very precise idea, and a very successful crowdfunding campaign.
The year was 2016 – and the idea was to make handcrafted shoes available to more men. How? With Scandinavian design and innovation applied to classical men’s footwear, and above all, by selling the shoes directly to clients, without unnecessary middlemen. In that way, Myrqvist can skip the retail mark-up typically applied to many shoes.
A quality shoe demands its price, yes, but in Myrqvist’s founder and CEO, Sebastian Öhrn’s mind, that price is usually way too high. It was this belief that brought life to Myrqvist. Sebastian describes the shoes as “premium footwear without the premium price tag” – and it's hard to disagree.
So what is it that makes these shoes great? For a starter, more or less the entire collection at Myrqvist consists of Goodyear-welted shoes, globally recognised as the superior construction of footwear. This makes for a quality shoe that can withstand the tests of time, and if they finally give in, they are easily resoled.
Moreover, the materials that go into the shoes come from the very best tanneries in the world. Hermes-owned Tanneries Du Puy provides the leather and the suede comes from British Charles F Stead. That material is crafted to shoes by experienced hands in Portugal while the entire design process happens in Stockholm, Sweden, where we find the headquarters of Myrqvist.
Now, six years (and one pandemic) later, Myrqvist has been awarded the fastest growing footwear brand of Sweden (not easy in competition with among others brands like, Axel Arrigato, Flattered and Eytys) and has really picked up the pace all over Europe.
The United Kingdom in particular has been very welcoming to the Scandi-designed shoes and according to Sebastian Öhrn, this is a big part of their entire marketing strategy: “We don’t have the deepest of pockets when it comes to budgets, but our very best marketing tool has always been our actual product. The word-of-mouth effect is strong and gives us the ultimate proof that our customers appreciate our shoes.”
And yes, the reviews of Myrqvist’s shoes all speak the same. A beautifully designed, well handcrafted and functional shoe for a price that is at least £100-£200 lower than what other brands of equal (or worse) quality often charge.
Its first shoe was an Oxford, called Äppelviken, like all its shoes, it is named after a place in Sweden. Äppelviken, which translates to Apple Bay, is where the founder, Sebastian, grew up. Myrqvist now offers a collection of numerous styles, ranging from sneakers and loafers to boots and accessories.
Regardless of its rapid growth, Myrqvist’s core principle will always remain the same: to design and craft proper – and affordable – footwear that makes more men discover the refined feeling of wearing handcrafted shoes.
