Polished to perfection
- Source: Global Times
- [13:20 June 29 2010]
- Comments
The sole attraction: customized shoemaking. Photo: CFP
By Mao Jiayu
Handmade shoes are not just the world's most comfortable footwear and a mark of absolute luxury. They make buying shoes that much easier. You will never hear the phrases "We don't have your size" "We don't have the shoes in that color" or "That style is no longer available" at a shop that sells handmade shoes.
If you follow brand names try J.M. Weston, a French shoemaker established in 1891. J.M. Weston has already opened more than 40 stores internationally. In China, it first sold its shoes on commission at Beijing's Peninsula Hotel in 2008. Last June J.M. Weston began selling over the counter in China and last October the brand planted its feet in Shanghai's Plaza 66.
Customized for customers
The ready-to-wear shoes at J.M. Weston are not mere samples. There is a huge range of sizes in their ready-to-wear leather shoes so that customers can find a comfortable pair with ease and walk out of the shop immediately. But customers who want to go that extra inch can have their shoes customized. About a fifth of the store's customers are already doing this. According to Cheng Bo, the operations director of J.M. Weston, customers simply have to pick the basic style then choose the type of leather, and the color. "Any style chosen from our shop's style book can be made to order. And J.M. Weston also offers seven ranges of width for its shoes," Cheng told the Global Times.
Like other professional handmade leather shoes, a pair of J.M. Weston shoes is born with the design and the specially made last (the cobbler's form shaped like a human foot upon which the shoe is constructed). Then comes the leather which involves stretching, inspections for defects, cutting and stitching.
Unlike other handmade shoemakers, J.M. Weston owns its own leather tannery. The leather the shoemakers work with is all from animal skins. Leather for a pair of shoes will undergo between 150 and 190 different processes. J.M. Weston used to make loafers and stylish shoes for men but in 2001, the company branched out and commissioned women's shoe designer, Michel Perry, to design men's shoes. Perry introduced a new Latin style narrow-toe shaped shoe. President Nicolas Sarkozy, like other French presidents before him, is a keen customer.
Normally a pair of box leather shoes made of cowhide or sheepskin will sell for 10,000 yuan ($1,472) while shoes made from exotic materials like alligator skins or ostrich skins sell for between 50,000 yuan and 70,000 yuan a pair. Shoes like this are worth waiting for and customers do have to wait. This footwear will take up to five months work by craftsmen in France before they can be delivered. They are guaranteed for a year at any J.M. Weston store in the world and the company provides lifelong maintenance of its shoes for free.
If this is a little beyond your pocket or if you are not a brand name believer, look at the handmade shoe stores on Nanyang Road.
Stanley Law is the only shop that offers unique designs for each customer so each pair of shoes from its store will cost up to 500 yuan more than other shops. When you walk into Stanley Law, there's a selection of truly exotic skins on display: alligator, lizard, sea lion, ostrich, cow, boa constrictor, pearl fish and eel. Each skin has a tag number so that you can choose something very special to be created for your feet.
