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Leather Arts & Crafts MOTO (Aoyama--Tokyo, Japan) Appreciation Thread

Kashiwa

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This thread is to provide info on, and share appreciation for, the works of Leather Arts & Crafts MOTO---makers of fine leather and silver goods in Aoyama--Tokyo, Japan.

Leather Arts & Crafts MOTO is the name of the umbrella enterprise formed by three affiliated leather and silverworks and retailers in the Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan:
1) Leather Arts Hideo Motoike
2) Leather &Silver MOTO
3) MOTOR

Main webpage: http://www.motostyle.jp/

Leather Arts & Crafts MOTO was established in 1971 and is the brainchild of Hideo Motoike, a talented sculptor currently working in Yonago City, Japan and the artist behind Leather Arts Hideo Motoike:



Main Webpage: http://www.motostyle.jp/hideoartwork/hideo-top.html
Profile: http://www.motostyle.jp/hideoartwork/profile/profile.html

Leather & Silver MOTO was a spin-off venture initiated in 1996 by the son of the founder, Sakuto Motoike. Over the past 15 years, MOTO has become well-recognized among Japanese leather connoisseurs as a top maker of a wide range of leather goods; including men's and women's shoes, wallets, bags, belts etc.

Main webpage: http://www.motostyle.jp/leather-silver/item/item-top.html
Location: Tokyo Minato-ku Kita-Aoyama 3-10-2


MOTOR is the most recent spin-off of MOTO. Initiated in 2011 as a platform for crafting a range of goods based on the aesthetic paradigm of a "Working Man's Garage", MOTOR is only starting to spin its wheels, but looks set to head in very interesting directions.

Main webpage: http://www.motostyle.jp/motor/motor-top.html
Location: Tokyo Minato-ku Minami-Aoyama 4-17-9


Leather & Silver offers a wide range of men's shoes and boots, but only in limited (and smaller) sizes.
http://www.motostyle.jp/leather-silver/item/item-top.html

One interesting feature of their homepage is a collection of photos of shoes and boots well worn in and aged to a prized patina by their customers (click on "aging" [in Japanese], the eight and final of the options on the left hand menu and the option boxed in red in the following image. Pics of the new boots will show up, but if you click on them a window showing the before and after pics will appear.):



Here is a fine example of a pair of new Long Chukka boots in natural CXL:



And after 8 months of hard wear:



The product line-up of MOTOR is still expanding, but highlights include these:

Engineer Boots http://www.motostyle.jp/motor/boots/engineer.html





Lace-up Boots http://www.motostyle.jp/motor/boots/engineer.html




Looking forward to more discussion, questions, comments, and pics of the finely crafted goods of MOTO.
 
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zakurie

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Great Thread. I am a huge fan or MOTO and have a handful of MOTO shoes.

Here are a couple shots of my first pair. The top photo is after about a weeks wear and the bottom photo is a couple years later:

3908234044_994fbc4c5e.jpg

5408719491_4044b99ee1.jpg
 

Kashiwa

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Nice boots! And glad to hear there is another MOTO fan on board. Please do post more pics of your MOTO goods!

I believe that those are the full height version of the "desert boots". If possible, please try to provide some info about sizing, as there were questions on another thread about sizing that led to the creation of this new thread.

I believe the "desert boot" is one of the few models that MOTO makes in a size 4, which must fit somewhere around 10-11D US (I think).
 

Kashiwa

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On my most recent visit to MOTO, I was highly impressed by the Camel leather Chukkas in Dark Brown:





And even more so in White!!



The leather is hard for me to describe, but it looks a lot like suede, but smoother and more rugged. The white had a barely perceptible speckling of very natural greens and yellows in it that really added to character of the leather.

Here is a pic of an pair of the Dark Brown Camel leather chukkas pictured above after two years wear:



Really like these boots, but unfortunately they don't do my size (12D). May have to visit again soon and beg for larger sizes.

Any thoughts on camel?
 

brokeassp

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Who can proxy moto boots to the US?
 

PhiPsi32

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email Moto a link to this thread
 

Kashiwa

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email Moto a link to this thread


Done. Sent a mail to MOTO requesting them to join the forum and provide info or news on their goods and to answer questions from their international fans.
Hopefully they come on board.
 

zakurie

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Here is a photo of my most recent MOTO shoes, oxfords in natural cxl:

7000674254_46021d6ef5.jpg
 

zakurie

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Sizing:

I wear a size 2 in all of my MOTOs and they all fit perfectly. As a comparison, my White's Semi Dress are size 9D and my Alden Chukka on the Barrie last are size 8.5
 

zakurie

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Not the best pic, but here are three of my MOTOs next to my White's.

On the left are Cordovan Lace-Up Boots, next to Cap Toe Lace-Up Boots, next to the Long Desert Boots:

6098595076_d33bbfcc76.jpg
 

zakurie

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And, my girlfriend's natural Balmorals:

5170107497_d3263d6371.jpg
 

PhiPsi32

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^^^ I like that black cap toe. They're all nice, but that black cap toe seems like it has just the right balance.
 

Kashiwa

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@Zakurie,

Excellent collection. Really like those black cap toes. And the oxfords are looking great as well. How long have you had them? Any thoughts on how they might compare with similar products from Alden etc?

And thanks for the info on sizing. Unfortunately, I am probably a non-existent size 5 in MOTO.
 

Kashiwa

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And, my girlfriend's natural Balmorals:
5170107497_d3263d6371.jpg


How does your girlfriend like them? My wife was considering some lace up and side gore boots in that same color, but she ended up getting these Pecos Boots in a slightly more subdued, but similar, color. BTW, they do this boot in mens sizes:



(pic from MOTO site, still waiting for a couple of tweaks to the boots)

I kind of suggested that the more subdued color would be better, but I might have been a little biased by my guy derived color preferences.

They also, from this year, do a version of the Pecos in 3 flavors of CXL:





 

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