The Berluti shoe thread - Page 2

I'll derail it into an Orient Express.

James Joyce was a Berluti bespoke client.

As was Manuel Noriega. And Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who was such an artisan fan he had Berluti make the most expensive shoes in the world -- court shoes with embroidered pearls costing $80,000 -- in 1970s money, I believe.

The President of France gave that pair of pearl-studded slippers for Bokassa's coronation. Berluti about 5 years ago was still kind of desirable but now they have things like this but patterned with ugly designs: Did you see my Yann Debelle de Montby thread?

RJ,

I'm disappointed you would resort to personal attacks on my shoe and me in general in this thread. I think that's rude of you honestly. You don't need to mention my shoes to make a point. It's obvious that thinner leather shoes wrinkles but so do my Lobbs, EG, and Amesbury bespoke. That's the nature of shoe leather. My Berlutis have held up as well as any shoes I own. I think the Venezia leather is used in part for how it takes the polishing and patina. I would probably not recommend very heavy use for Berlutis but I think of them as special occasion and style shoes so they work fine there.

It's also clear that you have a very strongly negative opinion about Berluti. I don't think your post is fair to the value of Berluti. I think the Chinese manufacturing comments is factually wrong and seems to be frankly a slander (with no evidence I might add) wholly unjustified. I think a gentlemen would present strong evidence for such a strong accusation.

You quote Barneys as saying Berluti is making some of the best handmade shoes. If you had actually seen Olga's bespoke work, you would admit there is a case to be made here.

I think the concern about LVMH is legitimate but Olga is such a perfectionist she may be able to keep quality maintained and designs innovative.

Price in my mind has gotten to be high but there are really no other shoes quite like some Berlutis in style so I am willing to pay for that in some instances. I would argue EG and Lobb may be a better price to quality value versus Berluti.

I just want to say that if I get a nice black shoe in the future, it would be a Berluti wholecut because the patination makes it so much more. The tints of green, purple or blue make it not just "black". Do Berluti wholecuts crease more than any other wholecut? I remember a member posted picks of his Lattanzi wholecuts and I think they crease just the same.

Artisan Fan - honestly, I think RJ was spot on with his description of the creasing in Berlutis. Almost every decently worn pair of Berlutis I've seen have had quite a bit of wrinkling, moreso than shoes of a less supple/soft leather. I'm not sure this was meant to be an insult.

It wasn't but AF is very sensitive to criticism, constructive or not.

Why do you say that Tomasso? Because I defended Kiton and Berluti when I thought some criticisms were unfair or untrue?

One of my peeves as well; however, if we're going to be picky is Berluti not already a plural and Berlutis being nothing more than a typical American display of excess. But then, the singular would be Berluto and we might not know what we're talking about. Even worse, is it a pair of Berulti, a pair of Berultis, or a pair of Berluto? I guess there is a reason why I shouldn't post when I'm sleepy.

In any event, my basic thoughts on this thread (and its predecessor) is that while many have praised the design, they have bemoaned the price relative to quality. While the issue of price relative to quality has merits, the fact is that one should also be willing to pay for design. Indeed, I've seen the argument made in reverse with regard to some Vass lasts (to paraphrase, "great quality, but I wouldn't put them on my feet"). The converse should also be true, one should be willing to pay a premium relative to quality because an item simply looks great on you.

Good point.

One might also look at the economic argument of price meeting supply and demand. It seems Olga has enough customers willing to pay the higher price. We may not all believe it is good value, but if I were an LVMH shareholder I might want Olga to charge what she can.

In the course of your strident defence of your makers you seem to have a tendency to attack the messenger. You went after Marc Seitleman in the Kiton thread, Kabbaz in the handmade shirt thread and now RJman in this thread. It's fine to dispute the facts but you don't have to make it personal.

Even if Berluti(s) is wrong, I don't think Berulti or Berultis would ever be right.

These are secret photos of Berluti shoes being made:


*This is a joke

Excuse me but it was RJ who made it personal here. I did not attack either Marc or Alex personally and Alex and I in particular had some nice discussions in that thread and in messages and we all learned a lot.

I did not attack RJ as well as my replies clearly show. I did call him on a rude comment and I will continue to do so as I see fit. RJ is making several baseless claims here and he needs to present more evidence to back up his accusations.