Insider's Look V

A few stragglers...

An upper lasted by hand (nailed in the back, glued in the front)

Going through 'the oven' to heat and set the upper

Cork filling the empty space to create an even surface onto which to glue the sole

Pressing on the sole

Adhesive padding to cover the nails used to attach the heels

California Dreaming

With the August holiday coming up and my trip back home fast approaching, I've got beaches, oceans, waves, and surfing on the brain...

Inside a Tannery

I visited the luxury leather tannery Stefania a while back, here are some pictures from that visit:

Even if it says the leather comes from Italy, it usually means that the skins come from another country (Eastern Europe, India, Asia, etc.), where the hides go through the first tanning process, then they are shipped to Italy for the other half of the tanning and finishing process. So in reality it's not the skins themselves of "Italian leather" that make them special, it's the high-quality tanning process. The hides, after they have undergone the first tanning and are ready to be shipped, are called wet blue hides because of their pale blue color (see above).

The hides are dyed in drums that spin like a washing machine. The smaller drum (above) is for sample-making, while the larger drums (below) are for large production orders. Once dyed, the leather goes through many steps to apply the finish, whether it be suede, patent, or laminated.

Above, black suede is sorted for quality. Most black suede is grey in color because it is difficult to get the dye to adhere and achieve a saturated black.

Finished skins, stacked and ready for processing

Rag & Bone...Shoes

Before moving to Italy I interned as a designer with an Oakland, California-based footwear company, Twenty Two Shoes. Unfortunately they have since closed their doors, but I still admire the co-owners/co-designers' refined rustic aesthetic and use of earthy, worn-looking leathers that make you want to touch them. I also appreciate their focus on casual leather shoes (an often overlooked, but necessary, shoe sector). I stumbled up on some photos of the Rag & Bone shoe collection in Footwear News and was immediately struck by how similar their approach and look is to that of my old company. Take a look...

My favorite - a simply beautiful oxford for women in beige leather and natural linen:

www.rag-bone.com

Insider's Look IV

Now that you know which factory I visited, here are a few more pictures...

Socks (more commonly known as insoles in the US) with their adhesive backing applied and ready to be put inside the finished shoe

Gluing on the sole

The leather upper is attached to the last by affixing a rope with nails to the lining that is left sticking out above the upper. Doing this ensures that the shoe doesn't slip down too far on the last when it is lasted.

Machine for lasting the toe

Machine for stretching and forming bootlegs

Introduction to Italy

I have been posting a lot about shoes recently (obviously), but I realize that Italy and my life here is such an important part of my shoemaking experience that I think it's relevant to share it with you all. So over the next weeks I'll be introducing you a bit to Italy, my town, and my stories of living here.

I thought I'd get started with some of the things that I love about living in Italy (the abbreviated list):

1. Eating an entire pizza on my own (this took some getting used to, but now when I go back home and have to share a pizza it always leaves me feeling a bit robbed)

2. Little old ladies who sit at their windows all day and watch the town pass by

3. Taking a passeggiata on Sundays

4. How almost everyone stops to give my dog some of their gelato when we walk through the piazza (sometimes they even stop to give my dog my gelato, though maybe that belongs on my list of things I do not like about living in Italy)

5. My coworkers who, after returning to work in the afternoon, are genuinely interested in hearing about every single thing I ate for lunch (oh, and did I mention hour-and-a-half lunch breaks?)

6. Waiters who act insulted if I don't clean my plate and dinner dates who never let me choose what I want to eat or how much (annoying, but also endearing in a strange Italian kind of way)

7. Being called "Little one," "Joy," "Star," "Treasure," and all manner of over-the-top names by people I barely know

8. And lastly, for now at least, driving with a stick-shift and speeding around roundabouts

Reinventing: Jil Sander

Sorry all for my laziness in posting, it's too hot here to do anything right now...except maybe for raiding the Style.com archives, where I found a detail shot of this great bulbous heel that wraps over the upper from Jil Sander.

It sent me straight to my sketchbook...

Insider's Look III

The automated stitching machine for quilting uppers. (Uppers are the leather/fabric part of the shoe that gets lasted and then finished with a sole. It's literally the upper part of the shoe. See last photo for an example.)

I promised that I'd tell you this week which factory I visited, but I think this picture does the job for me...

Yep, that's right!

An upper being accessorized before being lasted.

Thanks Christian

Sorry all, I'm a bit tired to do a proper post, but thought I'd share this quote from a Footwear News interview with Christian Louboutin in the June 7th, 2010 issue. (And for those of you who don't know what Footwear News is, it's the WWD of the footwear world. And for those of you who don't know what WWD is, it's the Wall Street Journal of the fashion world. And for those of you who don't know who Christian Louboutin is...then we've got a big problem!)

FN: Given all your success, do you feel a lot of pressure to stay on top?

CL: When I'm in the factory, that's when I feel the pressure, when I see all those people working in my company. It's very important to keep people who have families and children all working. Apart from that, not really. I concentrate on my work and this is really what counts.

A few factories in my area have shut down during the recent crisis because stores can't pay the designers for their orders, and then designers can't pay their factories, and then factories can't pay their employees (like me!). I've worked in two different factories and visited scores of others, and in all of them the employees have been such wonderful people, so it's nice to see some recognition and responsibility on the part of the designers.

Thanks Christian.

Georgina Georgina

It's no secret that I love Georgina Goodman. I first heard about her when I studied at Cordwainers (where she also studied), where my teachers referred to her as the recent graduate with most real talent.

I'm crazy for her signature striped soles...

...her fabulously architectural constructions...

...her luxe materials and details...

...and her collection of shoes made on site at her store in Mayfair, London.

I have several pairs of these striped ballet flats - they're my go-to flat and they last forever!

And what's even better than Georgina Goodman? Georgina Goodman for Brian Reyes...I just saw these online and I love how tough and rustic they are.

from georginagoodman.com and style.com