interview with bespoke shoemaker Norman Vilalta during the London trunk Show

[damiance]

the interview with Barcelona based bespoke shoemaker Norman Vilalta given during the London Super Trunk Show

 

[usctrojans31]

Always a fan of his work. Great interview. Thanks for sharing!

 

[damiance]

thanks,

there will also be published interviews with other shoemakers present at the London Super Trunk Show

 

[KidKoa]

I recently purchased shoes from the ready-to-wear collection of Norman Vilalta of Barcelona Spain in the fall of 2017. The shoes are from his No. 5 collection. A pair of Oxford Cap Toe in mid-brown. I am writing to share my experience with Norman.

Norman did not have my size when I visited his showroom but he offered to produce a pair in my size for about 900 euros. He said he had the style/size that I wanted in crusted leather, which is undyed leather and could easily produce one for me within two weeks. I had tried on other styles with the same last in my size so I was comfortable that the sizing would fit. I coordinated this purchase after I return from Barcelona. Norman was very communicative throughout the process but especially when he was asking for payment.

When I received the shoes I noticed the quality to be exceptionally poor. The leather was dyed poorly; there was clumpiness with the polish and scratches on both shoes. Most worrisome was the bulge along the counter of the left shoe. I sent photos of these problems (see attached) to Norman and requested his explanation on what happened.

Getting Norman to contact me was a herculean effort. I left numerious phone, text and email messages for Norman and it literally took several weeks of pestering him before he contacted me. He acknowledged the problems were real and chalked it up to poor quality control on the part of this staff. He won't accept a return and refund me. He offered to make me a second pair at no charge but said I would have to wait several months for this. Frankly I am not sure he would come through with this offer given his poor track record with me. The quality of his shoes was poor and his customer service atrocious

Does anyone else have any experience with Norman Vilalta?