Handcrafted shoes - what does it mean?

[chobochobo]

I've seen this in a couple pairs of shoes of mine including a pair of Grenson masterpieces as well as a 'Bench made' pair of Barries. I guess it can be a very vague term and is designed to make the shoes sound more attractive. Does anyone have anymore information please?

 

[NoVaguy]

At some point, somebody did a manufacturing operation by hand. Beyond that, no real specific industry wide definition that I'm aware of.

 

[kitonbrioni]

It's a great question but seems to mean a great deal or not much at all.

 

[A Harris]

With shoes, more than anything else, claims of 'handmade' or 'bench made' or 'hand crafted' etc. should be taken with a grain of salt. In nearly every case, it means the shoes were guided by hand through a variety of machinery, with perhaps a few steps in the finishing process done by hand.

 

[RJman]

In general, puffery. Next they will claim the shoes were made with "rich, Corinthian leather..."

 

[Claudio]

All of the above really.
I make shoes (well, I design them and then have them made but local company) and have the 'Handcrafted in Italy' label inside them (the makers axctually place that). Infact it can mean many things and in my case means that it was made by little local artisan company, made in limited quantities, and as said guided by hand through some machinery, and in many cases hand finished. Emphasis in this case is that it being a limited production company it still gives the attention and care to its product that is usually reserved to totally hand made shoes; this same attention is something rarely seen in the big, mass producing shoe companies. I have an old man which actually TOTALLY HAND MAKES some shoes for me and he doesnt print anything on the inside except his label.

The same can be said for the MADE IN ITALY logo: it can be made by local italian companies, it can be made in italy by cheap chinese manufactures, or it can be made in romania and then finshed in italy (this is especially true with clothing) with soemthing very minor like adding bottons to a shirt - and gets the Made in Italy label (most major brand companies do this). Don't kid yourself, most of the major big ($$) brands are not made in italy even if they say so (this doesnt necessarily mean they are low quality mind you)

 

[JBZ]

Originally Posted by RJman

In general, puffery. Next they will claim the shoes were made with "rich, Corinthian leather..."

Brooks Brothers is now claiming shoes made with "Spazzolato" leather (and some pretty expensive luggage, too). Don't exactly know the origins of this (appears to have something to do with the quality of the shine), but BB is certainly charging a premium for it.

 

[Rolo]

My Italian is a bit rusty, but I think spazzolato means "brushed."

However, the PAZZO in the middle of sPAZZOlato means "crazy".

Rolo

 

[Chris "Italia"]

True Handmade Shoes: Kiton? John Lobb? Edward Green? Lattanzi? Santoni Handmade Collection?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

True Handmade Shoes: Kiton? John Lobb? Edward Green? Lattanzi?
kinda, no, no, yes.

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Originally Posted by iammatt

kinda, no, no, yes.


According to you, Matt, Lattanzi is the only true handmade shoe.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

According to you, Matt, Lattanzi is the only true handmade shoe.
No. Just from your group. There are tons of handmade shoes out there. JL Bespoke is handmade, not the RTW line.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Lobb St. James and Amesbury are all handmade.

The construction difference between EG and Kiton is not necessarily vast.

 

[johnapril]

Made in Italy means the cops spotted you in Italy in the past tense.

 

[Duveen]

Originally Posted by JBZ

Brooks Brothers is now claiming shoes made with "Spazzolato" leather (and some pretty expensive luggage, too). Don't exactly know the origins of this (appears to have something to do with the quality of the shine), but BB is certainly charging a premium for it.

The luggage looks nice on the site, particularly the docs bag. Too bad it has wheels, which I think detracts significantly from it. Also too bad it costs $2K+. Wonder if it will go on steep discount???

I didn't see any spazzolato shoes, just some shiny ones.