Riccardo Bestetti Bespoke projects.

[EuroSkywalker]

Guys,

Stay away from Marco. I had the pleasure of being a long time customer of the late great artist, my friend Riccardo. Had plenty of shoes directly from him and every single experience was absolutely pleasing.
Fast forward, I order couple of pairs from Marco after Riccardo passed, this guy is plain and simple liar, never keeps his date, abrasive, and worst of all, does not have any knowledge about color patina, shape of the classic Riccardo lasts. Gets rid of 3 piece shoe trees and even the leather quality is degraded. Biggest example, he does not even know how to create same patina the second time.
He threatened me via email that he will take action against me, because I claimed money back after 6 months on my last day that I could file a claim with PayPal. He is an absolute disgrace and I wonder how a qualityless person like him be a friend of Riccardo. Evident by the fact that he took down the Instagram page. Just browse through earlier pics of Bestetti shoes, the shape, the lines, the color patina. And the more recent ones, uniform deeper black or brown colors mostly.
I wish I never had any transaction with him. First of all he does not keep his word of delivering ordered shoes in 4 weeks and on top of that all those abusive emails.
Absolute lowlife!!

Thank you for the candor and making the effort to share your personal experience; this is an increasingly sad story to be sure.
We were scheduled to meet with Riccardo to discuss acquiring a controlling interest in the company and funding its expansion however upon landing in Italy were, sadly, advised of his passing. As much as we remain interested in investing in the space, we wonder if the brand retains sufficient good will or whether it has passed the point of no return. It is disappointing to think that, had we managed to complete our investment, none of this apparent toxicity and nonsense would have ever transpired and Riccardo's brand, style contribution, and very name would be held in the esteem and high regard it deserves.

If anyone has any further experience with Marco or the Bestetti brand, please keep us all posted.

Merry Christmas.

 

[Rogan]

Thank you for the candor and making the effort to share your personal experience; this is an increasingly sad story to be sure.
We were scheduled to meet with Riccardo to discuss acquiring a controlling interest in the company and funding its expansion however upon landing in Italy were, sadly, advised of his passing. As much as we remain interested in investing in the space, we wonder if the brand retains sufficient good will or whether it has passed the point of no return. It is disappointing to think that, had we managed to complete our investment, none of this apparent toxicity and nonsense would have ever transpired and Riccardo's brand, style contribution, and very name would be held in the esteem and high regard it deserves.

If anyone has any further experience with Marco or the Bestetti brand, please keep us all posted.

Merry Christmas.

Dear Sir,

I will tell you my personal experience with Riccardo. He was so passionate about his family/son that he never wanted to leave Italy for trunk shows. That says a lot about a man. At the beginning, I waited 9 months for a pair. But in the process of waiting for the shoes, nor a single time any false representation was made about the shoes and each process was shared with detailed beautiful pictures. And when I held my first Bestetti pair in my hand, the feeling of holding a fine lined, sculpted pair of shoes was such a never before feeling that is impossible to describe in words.

There are some famous people that are in my list that I consider as god in their own craft and I wish I had met them and if I did, I would sincerely bow down in front of them and kiss their hand out of respect. Stanley Kubrick, Hayao Miyazaki, Gustav Klimt, and Riccardo Freccia Bestetti are in the same group. The memory of my friend Riccardo and about 20 of his hand made shoes are now with me, I hardly bought any shoes after his passing. I can’t wear the shoes. Just the thought that Riccardo is not there anymore spending well earned quality time with his family is unbearable to me. His signature bearing shoes will remain with me as a testament of a great artist, a friend and a fantastic human being.

But having said that, the late Marco era Bestetti shoes were nowhere near the quality of the real Bestetti shoes. I Am positive there are a huge group of true followers of the real Bestetti shoes for sure.

Apology for the long post.

 

[MenWithStyl3]

My first pair of Bestettis! Maverick with Alligator facings.

View attachment 1067122

View attachment 1067123

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How much do they cost?

 

[DonRaphael]

I know this thread is for bespoke projects, but thought I'd gauge if there's any interest in here in RTW Richelieu model in burgundy size UK7. Comes with lasted shoe trees, bags and box. DM me if you're interested or want more details.

 

[cliffordcaucus]

Similarly to the post above, I’m interested in selling my UK 7.5 York U-Cap oxfords from Bestetti at a competitive price! Fits similar to a US 9

 

[DonRaphael]

Here's my listing of the Bestetti wholecut if someone's interested https://www.styleforum.net/buyandsell/bestetti-richelieu-wholecut-burgundy.20478/

 

[frighter3]

Similarly to the post above, I’m interested in selling my UK 7.5 York U-Cap oxfords from Bestetti at a competitive price! Fits similar to a US 9 View attachment 1326112

I would like to get a pair but not in my size

 

[andreasky]

The website www.frecciabestetti.com is currently under maintenance.
Do you know where to see online their shoes?

 

[Stilig]

It is a shame what happened to the brand after Marco took over. However, there were lots of issues even when Riccardo was still with us. I worked with Riccardo as a retailer and arranged trunk shows on a couple of occasions. It was messy, most things were delivered late, and there were lots and lots of errors in the communication.

However, Riccardo was honest and had the best of intentions. He was fully dedicated to his work, never wanting to compromise on the quality of his shoes. He turned down clients of ours that wanted to have bespoke or Novecento shoes made and said: "I cannot make a beautiful shoe for this foot, I'm sorry".

In addition to being a great craftsman, Riccardo was a very kind and warm person. And I can attest to the fact that he most often declined requests for trunk shows, on account of not wanting to spend a single night away from his family unless necessary.

When Marco took over my impression was that the operations improved dramatically. He communicated well and was very kind and helpful. He improved the order process, clarified the product offerings, and streamlined the production process somewhat to decrease lead times. And then Marco just vanished, and the criticism started appearing here. A very sad and very strange development, and a shame that it's sullying the legacy of Riccardo.

 

[andreasky]

How do you compare Riccardo Bestetti shoes with St Crispin's and Antonio Meccariello?

 

[Rogan]

It is a shame what happened to the brand after Marco took over. However, there were lots of issues even when Riccardo was still with us. I worked with Riccardo as a retailer and arranged trunk shows on a couple of occasions. It was messy, most things were delivered late, and there were lots and lots of errors in the communication.

However, Riccardo was honest and had the best of intentions. He was fully dedicated to his work, never wanting to compromise on the quality of his shoes. He turned down clients of ours that wanted to have bespoke or Novecento shoes made and said: "I cannot make a beautiful shoe for this foot, I'm sorry".

In addition to being a great craftsman, Riccardo was a very kind and warm person. And I can attest to the fact that he most often declined requests for trunk shows, on account of not wanting to spend a single night away from his family unless necessary.

When Marco took over my impression was that the operations improved dramatically. He communicated well and was very kind and helpful. He improved the order process, clarified the product offerings, and streamlined the production process somewhat to decrease lead times. And then Marco just vanished, and the criticism started appearing here. A very sad and very strange development, and a shame that it's sullying the legacy of Riccardo.

Thank you for your valued opinion. I am very interested to know what did you think about the quality of the shoes between Riccardo era and Marco era Bestetti shoes, like a comparable analysis.

Thanks.

 

[EuroSkywalker]

It is a shame what happened to the brand after Marco took over. However, there were lots of issues even when Riccardo was still with us. I worked with Riccardo as a retailer and arranged trunk shows on a couple of occasions. It was messy, most things were delivered late, and there were lots and lots of errors in the communication.

However, Riccardo was honest and had the best of intentions. He was fully dedicated to his work, never wanting to compromise on the quality of his shoes. He turned down clients of ours that wanted to have bespoke or Novecento shoes made and said: "I cannot make a beautiful shoe for this foot, I'm sorry".

In addition to being a great craftsman, Riccardo was a very kind and warm person. And I can attest to the fact that he most often declined requests for trunk shows, on account of not wanting to spend a single night away from his family unless necessary.

When Marco took over my impression was that the operations improved dramatically. He communicated well and was very kind and helpful. He improved the order process, clarified the product offerings, and streamlined the production process somewhat to decrease lead times. And then Marco just vanished, and the criticism started appearing here. A very sad and very strange development, and a shame that it's sullying the legacy of Riccardo.

I would be interested in buying the assets/company and hiring some of the former staff.

 

[Stilig]

Thank you for your valued opinion. I am very interested to know what did you think about the quality of the shoes between Riccardo era and Marco era Bestetti shoes, like a comparable analysis.

Thanks.

I couldn't really compare to be honest. The last batch of shoes that I saw were RTW that Riccardo had almost finished before he passed away. Riccardo's most senior staff member did the last touches before sending them to us. After that I didn't really see any new ones.

I would be interested in buying the assets/company and hiring some of the former staff.

I don't think there are many assets to buy. It is (or maybe was rather) a small operation with very limited machinery. I would doubt that any of the old staff are still left by now. As I understand it, some of the people went to Calzoleria Rivolta, who used to have their RTW and MTO shoes made in Bestetti's workshop.

 

[EuroSkywalker]

I couldn't really compare to be honest. The last batch of shoes that I saw were RTW that Riccardo had almost finished before he passed away. Riccardo's most senior staff member did the last touches before sending them to us. After that I didn't really see any new ones.



I don't think there are many assets to buy. It is (or maybe was rather) a small operation with very limited machinery. I would doubt that any of the old staff are still left by now. As I understand it, some of the people went to Calzoleria Rivolta, who used to have their RTW and MTO shoes made in Bestetti's workshop.

Thank you very much for that insight. I appreciate it.

 

[benjamin831]

Selling my brand new pair of Mavericks here.

[BRAND NEW] RICCARDO BESTETTI Bespoke Maverick Adelaide Brogue US6

Very rare pair of new bespoke Mavericks from the famed Riccardo Bestetti studio. These were delivered to me last year after a full year from the date of order. Unfortunately the instep is a little high for me as I have flattish feet. I have...

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