The Official Artisanal "streetwear" footwear (boots, shoes, sandals) thread (Guidi, CCP, Augusta, M.

[RFX45]

Can we get some background stories to these brands, maybe even links? I remember Eck mentioning that people who started Guidi, MA+, etc... used to work for Carpe or something. I think it'll be interesting to those of us who aren't the most familiar with these brands and how they came about.

 

[eckblk]

Here is something interesting from SZ:

This was an interesting, timely question, considering the implosion/explosion of the now-defunct Carpe Diem, the success of its offspring, and the time-flagrant but beautifully-judged, quietly-intense response from Maurizio Altieri.

For this writer, the ultimate refinement in footwear lay with Carpe Diem, but which carries through in amplified spades to Altieri's Avantindietro collection, sighted again in Paris in October. It is hard to imagine a more completely modern footwear statement - reduced as it is to a minimal leather form (soles carved away to next-to-nothing, the absence of seams/stitching, ultra-thin laces if any; the designs fluid, aerodynamic, anatomical.) Are these leather slippers, boots, shoes, runners, some kind of epiphany, some kind of footwear for the future? They are perhaps all of these, and the result of a designer's smouldering obsession with the reduction of footwear to a single leather form that is free of 'ridiculous' detail/production constraints. Well worth the wait.

Simone Cecchetto of Augusta, on the other hand, is obsessed by skin, and the life that the skin of your shoes might have beyond their point of sale. Augustas, a generally more rugged shoe, should not be treated in a precious, retentive way - they are to be worn, scarred, bashed - the joy of them is to be had with the 'seasons of their skin', the inequalities, the emergence, like the Shroud of Turin, on their different, weathered surfaces. Not to be overlooked is their facility for absolute comfort, once the 'artisinal idiosyncracies' and treatments have been broken down - the writer has walked for miles over Parisian cobbled streets in these boots and shoes, and swears by them. Simone, it should be noted, is also pushing his work with skins, with new, exotic developments in shark and stingray.

Guidi appear to generate their footwear from some intrinsic, Italian fundamentalism for leather and hide - your reaction, therefore, is likely to come from the gut and not necessarily the brain. As witnessed in Paris in October, the new, raw, range of bags and open-toed boots and shoes (a la sandles with substance) is strong and earthy, without excessive human intervention, and with an unforced sense of 'arte povera', created without heed to the market or any dictate of wank. For those wanting a more earthly attachment to modern/historic Italian soil, with the ability to create your own look, and without being dominated by overt design, Guidi appears to be the Jesus of Italian avante garde footwear - both a winner in price and tactile quality.

Carol Christian Poell: the dictator. Having broken in a pair of zip-up boots this last season the writer can attest to a relationship with the designer that is push-pull/**** you, but which ultimately, perhaps surprisingly quickly, becomes devotional - as in 'I think I'm in love'. The first experience of a CCP shoe/boot can result in a head-scratching question: how does this shoe last relate to my foot? But successive wears and breaking in find the foot moulding the design and not the other way 'round, resulting in a comfort that is extra-ordinary, as natural as saliva in the mouth, and a visible ageing process of the skin which binds the wearer into a shared relationship. As with all things Poell, what is required of the purchaser/wearer, is the entering of a 'conversation' with the designer/artist, and the abandonment of the timidity which is, unfortunately, specifically male, and to be found consistently throughout these pages.

 

[eckblk]

And another from SZ:

Hello to all,

I just happened to stumble upon this site and the current forum and have enjoyed everyone's comments. If possible, I would like to add something from the designer side of things...

I am a designer and colleague of Maurizio Altieri. We both showed our first Paris collections in the same place in 1993 along the banks of the Seine. We both have had many ups and downs in our careers. This business is like that.

He was showing Carpe Diem, although a very different concept than what it later became, and I was pioneering the crazy concept at the time, that an American designer could do avant-garde in Paris and actually make it, (Rick Owens, Jeremy Scott and quite a few others followed later).

Without going into details, we took off for awhile doing some of the world's earliest recycled designer work and grew a lot. But Maurizio suffered a lot during the next five years and made huge personal sacrifices before beginning his truly successful run with Carpe Diem. And I respect him as a friend and as one of the few real artists in the field, so I need to point out that he alone was the pioneer and creator of the look that so many have been imitating and copying in the past 4 years. Period.

This is the real and important difference people need to know about the 3 different brands.

And this is why when you really look at the pieces carefully from all aspects, there is a real difference. Without Maurizio, none of the other 2 brands would even look the way they do, if even exist at all. I know the fellow behind Guidi. Yes, he was the leather supplier for Maurizio. And with all respect to him and to the wonderful writer who posted earlier in this forum, I do not think he is Jesus. He is a very shrewd businessman. Believe me, I have learned in this business to spot them from miles away. He supplied Maurizio, saw how much money CD was making, and started supplying many others, then coming to Paris every designer week, and then surprise-- doing his own label too (even hiring ex CD salespeople to contact the stores for him), eventually replacing CD in many stores because he sold look alikes for less. Pure business. No more. No less. 99.9 percent of the industry works this way. H&M and Zara are no different. The price you pay for Maurizio is higher and justifiably so. Somebody had to start the whole thing. The idea. The research. The first prototypes. The first orders and distribution (Maurizio even went personally himself to the stores to write the first orders door to door). The lower price for Guidi is cool, but I really have to emphasize, that the purchaser is not getting the same thing, and people need to know.

The designer of Augusta worked and trained as an assistant with Maurizio and has been able to benefit from all the resources, know-how and advantages doing so. Whether, he will be able to carve out his own truly individual thing and hang in there long enough to survive what many believe is the toughest business in the world...remains to be seen. He had a great master. Hopefully he was a good student. We wish him well.

As for the defunct Carpe-Diem thing, I also want to say that it was a voluntary decision by Maurizio. CD was very successful and he did very well with it. But what would you do in his shoes, if you had created a very special artistic thing and saw your partners all try to become exploiters of the concept in their own interests? You might get sick of the whole thing and shut the doors too. Man does not live by bread alone. Real artists even more so.

The fact is that Maurizio's work and contribution are his alone. And those that want the real thing need to understand that his brand is the original and the authentic one. Those that want look alikes can settle for the others. And new emerging designers that want to make a serious contribution need to invent really new things that are truly theirs alone---then hang on long enough and survive the rest of the industry (from suppliers to retailers) that will copy them a million times over and try to make sure the buying public knows nothing about them. Believe me, there are some really good working designers out there being blocked by an industry trying to play safer and safer every season. But that's another story.

If you only knew what really goes on in this industry...

That's all I have time for. I have late store deliveries waiting and another Paris collection coming up in 5 weeks. Sorry, I hope I have not pissed anybody off with my comments. If so, I apologize profusely. I only wanted to give Maurizio Altieri some due credit for his contribution to the field.

Thanks for reading and best wishes to all,

Geoffrey B. Small

 

[hendrix]

Originally Posted by eckblk

Here is something interesting from SZ:
This was an interesting, timely question, considering the implosion/explosion of the now-defunct Carpe Diem, the success of its offspring, and the time-flagrant but beautifully-judged, quietly-intense response from Maurizio Altieri. For this writer, the ultimate refinement in footwear lay with Carpe Diem, but which carries through in amplified spades to Altieri's Avantindietro collection, sighted again in Paris in October. It is hard to imagine a more completely modern footwear statement - reduced as it is to a minimal leather form (soles carved away to next-to-nothing, the absence of seams/stitching, ultra-thin laces if any; the designs fluid, aerodynamic, anatomical.) Are these leather slippers, boots, shoes, runners, some kind of epiphany, some kind of footwear for the future? They are perhaps all of these, and the result of a designer's smouldering obsession with the reduction of footwear to a single leather form that is free of 'ridiculous' detail/production constraints. Well worth the wait. Simone Cecchetto of Augusta, on the other hand, is obsessed by skin, and the life that the skin of your shoes might have beyond their point of sale. Augustas, a generally more rugged shoe, should not be treated in a precious, retentive way - they are to be worn, scarred, bashed - the joy of them is to be had with the 'seasons of their skin', the inequalities, the emergence, like the Shroud of Turin, on their different, weathered surfaces. Not to be overlooked is their facility for absolute comfort, once the 'artisinal idiosyncracies' and treatments have been broken down - the writer has walked for miles over Parisian cobbled streets in these boots and shoes, and swears by them. Simone, it should be noted, is also pushing his work with skins, with new, exotic developments in shark and stingray. Guidi appear to generate their footwear from some intrinsic, Italian fundamentalism for leather and hide - your reaction, therefore, is likely to come from the gut and not necessarily the brain. As witnessed in Paris in October, the new, raw, range of bags and open-toed boots and shoes (a la sandles with substance) is strong and earthy, without excessive human intervention, and with an unforced sense of 'arte povera', created without heed to the market or any dictate of wank. For those wanting a more earthly attachment to modern/historic Italian soil, with the ability to create your own look, and without being dominated by overt design, Guidi appears to be the Jesus of Italian avante garde footwear - both a winner in price and tactile quality. Carol Christian Poell: the dictator. Having broken in a pair of zip-up boots this last season the writer can attest to a relationship with the designer that is push-pull/**** you, but which ultimately, perhaps surprisingly quickly, becomes devotional - as in 'I think I'm in love'. The first experience of a CCP shoe/boot can result in a head-scratching question: how does this shoe last relate to my foot? But successive wears and breaking in find the foot moulding the design and not the other way 'round, resulting in a comfort that is extra-ordinary, as natural as saliva in the mouth, and a visible ageing process of the skin which binds the wearer into a shared relationship. As with all things Poell, what is required of the purchaser/wearer, is the entering of a 'conversation' with the designer/artist, and the abandonment of the timidity which is, unfortunately, specifically male, and to be found consistently throughout these pages.
cool, but lol

 

[RFX45]

Great info Eck, thanks for posting it.

 

[artishard116]

Originally Posted by Abraxis

Was a pair on yahoo japan not long ago going for like 500 bucks...

time to figure that **** out I guess

 

[chomeo]

here's one of my favorite!

 

[Gavin]

My beloved 123&124 Almond Toe boots:

I don't believe 123&124 existed for more than a season or two -- they were designed by Scott Emerson, formerly with McQueen. It's since been absorbed into Narrative Souliers.

 

[Gavin]

And M.A.+ designs some of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen. I'm only lucky enough to have one of their card holders, though.

 

[lemmywinks]

Some of these look pretty cool but a lot of them look really plain and simple. How do you go about resoling these baller boots?

 

[Gavin]

Originally Posted by lemmywinks

Some of these look pretty cool but a lot of them look really plain and simple. How do you go about resoling these baller boots?

I had Topys put on mine for now.

 

[eckblk]

Originally Posted by lemmywinks

Some of these look pretty cool but a lot of them look really plain and simple. How do you go about resoling these baller boots?
Most of the boots I've seen end up with rubber Vibram sole and heel (see 3rd pic). Augusta with peeling oil effect

 

[RFX45]

Augusta cordovan leather boots

 

[eckblk]

That is some CCP style scarring on the leather. I wonder if both are using leather from the Guidi tannery?

Barneys just updated their Augusta buy online. I want the canvas over leather soo bad, just not sure if it's a smart buy for me

 

[RFX45]

^ ^ ^
Was just going to post it.

I like this grey pair a lot.