The high end Chinese Shoe Thread

[Psyko]

While I do not own anything from Mattina at the moment, I can speak about @boot_owl. If you are on the fence, no better person to steer you in the right direction.

The man knows his shoes. He has an eye for aesthetics, and values a well made shoe. His word about Mattina would be as good as gold. Based on my experiences dealing with him, it would remove any apprehensions I would have concerning the quality of Mattina.

I fully vouch for the excellent customer service of @boot_owl . He really goes the extra mile to make sure the customer is happy with the ordering process and the finished product. He is super responsive, as well. I have to say House of Agin is terrific value. You get hand welted shoes with nicely shaped lasts for 490 USD. Hard to beat.

 

[Complete Novice]

From me, nobody has received anything for free except for shoe trees from the launch promotion and some of my experimental full veg tan tongue pads - which I’m happy to send anybody for the price of shipping (~$15-20 usd, I will show a receipt) if they have shoes with instep or heel slip issues that they need some help with, in exchange for feedback only.

Just my personal view ..... respect goes out to those who disagree .....

Whilst I think every brand needs a marketing budget, especially the younger ones seeking to establish themselves, I fear that free samples and discounts lead to truth distortion and unconscious bias from even the best intentioned reviewers.

Worse, I think it opens up young brands to exploitation and makes those trying to develop a long term value proposition of great design/ construction / price very vulnerable to those diverting their resources from quality to their marketing budget instead.

Ditto consumers extracting punishing discounts by the way.

If you want to know who is doing it, ask them politely on their feed. You can always unsubscribe if you dont like the answer

Now, @boot_owl let's help you on your way to becoming an affiliate. Do you have any photographs of a Mattina suede SpTD please

 

[Psyko]

Now, @boot_owl let's help you on your way to becoming an affiliate. Do you have any photographs of a Mattina suede SpTD please
[/QUOTE]

Let me help you out there:

Here are a pair of suede SpTD's I ordered from House og Agin:

Overall very pleased. Nice last with a pretty slim, bevelled waist. I'm always surprised at how light and flexible HW shoes feel. The suede is smooth and supple. A little sloppy finishing around the welt join and edge of the outsole, but you can't expect more at that price point, really.

 

[Psyko]

Double post.

 

[acapaca]

While I do not own anything from Mattina at the moment, I can speak about @boot_owl. If you are on the fence, no better person to steer you in the right direction.

The man knows his shoes. He has an eye for aesthetics, and values a well made shoe. His word about Mattina would be as good as gold. Based on my experiences dealing with him, it would remove any apprehensions I would have concerning the quality of Mattina.

I'm down to try the Boot Owl. Will send him a PM about the tongue pad offer! A question I know I could ask him directly, but it's tangentially related to another matter. Is he from Indonesia? (Not sure why I think that.) Even if he's not, would this be the right place to also discuss Indonesian makers? I know that we've tossed a fair bit of Vietnam into this thread, which I guess means we don't have one for Southeast Asia specifically. I guess there's the Winson thread...

 

[Complete Novice]

Let me help you out there:

Here are a pair of suede SpTD's I ordered from House og Agin:



[/QUOTE]

Thank you - very nice last and pattern making indeed, looks like a lot of shoe for the price!

Now does any one have similar shots of the chukka please?

 

[boot_owl]

I'm down to try the Boot Owl. Will send him a PM about the tongue pad offer! A question I know I could ask him directly, but it's tangentially related to another matter. Is he from Indonesia? (Not sure why I think that.) Even if he's not, would this be the right place to also discuss Indonesian makers? I know that we've tossed a fair bit of Vietnam into this thread, which I guess means we don't have one for Southeast Asia specifically. I guess there's the Winson thread...

I’m actually an Australian who has made a fair few indonesian purchases and have a good relationship with Winson. Don’t see why we couldn’t talk indonesian and Vietnamese as well. I’ll get to your PM shortly!

Let me help you out there:

Here are a pair of suede SpTD's I ordered from House og Agin:

Thank you - very nice last and pattern making indeed, looks like a lot of shoe for the price!

Now does any one have similar shots of the chukka please?
[/QUOTE]

unfortunately haven’t had a chukka come through yet

 

[Complete Novice]

Thanks @boot_owl !

Good photos of this brand are few and far between which is maybe why they are picking up slowly.

When the photos are decent - I got one the top one from @fupei , who I think is also a member of SF - the two lasts, an almond and a soft square, both look a level above some of the other brands being posted here.

There is a really nice chukka on taobao, GYW not hand welted, but I cant quite work out how to post it here yet.

With this kind of pedigree behind them, if workmanship and leather upgrades are an option, I am intrigued .....

 

[Eddie.Lin]

Thanks @boot_owl !

Good photos of this brand are few and far between which is maybe why they are picking up slowly.

When the photos are decent - I got one the top one from @fupei , who I think is also a member of SF - the two lasts, an almond and a soft square, both look a level above some of the other brands being posted here.

There is a really nice chukka on taobao, GYW not hand welted, but I cant quite work out how to post it here yet.

With this kind of pedigree behind them, if workmanship and leather upgrades are an option, I am intrigued .....

View attachment 1541371 View attachment 1541373

Is this the chukka you talked about?

It seems that they added Jodhpur recently as well

 

[Complete Novice]

Is this the chukka you talked about? View attachment 1541403

It seems that they added Jodhpur recently as well
View attachment 1541404

Thanks @Eddie.Lin I appreciate that!

Saw a suede version of the same chukka on what looks like soft square.

Some details need refining but their lasts are certainly easy on the eye!

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Just my personal view ..... respect goes out to those who disagree .....

Whilst I think every brand needs a marketing budget, especially the younger ones seeking to establish themselves, I fear that free samples and discounts lead to truth distortion and unconscious bias from even the best intentioned reviewers.

Worse, I think it opens up young brands to exploitation and makes those trying to develop a long term value proposition of great design/ construction / price very vulnerable to those diverting their resources from quality to their marketing budget instead.

Ditto consumers extracting punishing discounts by the way.

If you want to know who is doing it, ask them politely on their feed. You can always unsubscribe if you dont like the answer

Now, @boot_owl let's help you on your way to becoming an affiliate. Do you have any photographs of a Mattina suede SpTD please

An important question and one that needs a proper answer. Fortunately, you are amongst those that can answer it unbiasedly ?.

I for one agree that real reviews from paying customers are the best method to gain a proper perspective about brands/shoes. Ideally you want information that is both positive and negative as they provide a fuller frame of reference.

I do not dismiss paid reviews (they can qualify as such), but I value them less in the totality of the information I am able to gather.

As vital as the shoes themselves are, I very highly regard customer service and the person(s) behind a product. To me, those that appreciate their brand/product will not rest until they've demonstrated that love for what they are selling. Again, @boot_owl both respects shoes overall, and is passionate about his brand.

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Just my personal view ..... respect goes out to those who disagree .....

Whilst I think every brand needs a marketing budget, especially the younger ones seeking to establish themselves, I fear that free samples and discounts lead to truth distortion and unconscious bias from even the best intentioned reviewers.

Worse, I think it opens up young brands to exploitation and makes those trying to develop a long term value proposition of great design/ construction / price very vulnerable to those diverting their resources from quality to their marketing budget instead.

Ditto consumers extracting punishing discounts by the way.

If you want to know who is doing it, ask them politely on their feed. You can always unsubscribe if you dont like the answer

Now, @boot_owl let's help you on your way to becoming an affiliate. Do you have any photographs of a Mattina suede SpTD please

Personally I definitely can see a point for new emerging brands to offer shoes/give discounts to "influencers" and bloggers etc, it's a quick and cheap way to get your name and product out. Seeing it from the brands point of view, we do it every now and then with the company I work for and our Yanko and TLB offers. In those cases it's not really to get reviews though, but one thing to get some knowledge about the products out there, other thing to get good photo content (it's very expensive to hire professional photographers and model, way more expensive than sending out a few shoes).

Talking from the other point of view, I do receive products every now and then for reviews/buying guides. In those cases though, I always state that it's the case, and the brand don't have any say in what I write. I've been both praising and bashing in these reviews, in most cases a little bit of both, but usually you aren't sent out crappy stuff so there's more positive things to say. If I knew things are bad (for the price, worth noting) it's not interesting for me to review it, and I turn down a lot of offers from various brands of getting free stuff or get stuff to review. I only accept it if I can see that it would be of interest doing content on it for my readers, and that it's not something that is well-known already (for example, reviewing a pair of Crockett & Jones or Edward Green shoes would be no point, wouldn't add anything new, so that I say no thanks to).

And, also importantly, I have never contacted a brand to ask for free shoes/discounts to do reviews or so. If I'm not up to paying the full price, why would any of my readers be that, and hence, why would it then be of interest to write it? It has happened that I've been offered a pair once though after I've reached out to buy it, in that case I've accepted but then also stated that it was a review pair. Also, I would never review something that I'm obviously biased towards, like a brand that we sell at the company I work for etc, see no point in that. How others act with their reviews etc, that will be on them.

For those who know cultures, they would know that if I were after free stuff it would be stupid to go after so many Japanese makers. In Japan, you always pay what things are worth, it's never even a discussion about anything else. On the other hand, as a guest you are never able to pay for anything at dinners etc though, so maybe I've levelled things up with all the nice stuff I've been out at when visiting ? (this goes whether you've purchased shoes from anyone or not though).

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Personally I definitely can see a point for new emerging brands to offer shoes/give discounts to "influencers" and bloggers etc, it's a quick and cheap way to get your name and product out. Seeing it from the brands point of view, we do it every now and then with the company I work for and our Yanko and TLB offers. In those cases it's not really to get reviews though, but one thing to get some knowledge about the products out there, other thing to get good photo content (it's very expensive to hire professional photographers and model, way more expensive than sending out a few shoes).

Talking from the other point of view, I do receive products every now and then for reviews/buying guides. In those cases though, I always state that it's the case, and the brand don't have any say in what I write. I've been both praising and bashing in these reviews, in most cases a little bit of both, but usually you aren't sent out crappy stuff so there's more positive things to say. If I knew things are bad (for the price, worth noting) it's not interesting for me to review it, and I turn down a lot of offers from various brands of getting free stuff or get stuff to review. I only accept it if I can see that it would be of interest doing content on it for my readers, and that it's not something that is well-known already (for example, reviewing a pair of Crockett & Jones or Edward Green shoes would be no point, wouldn't add anything new, so that I say no thanks to).

And, also importantly, I have never contacted a brand to ask for free shoes/discounts to do reviews or so. If I'm not up to paying the full price, why would any of my readers be that, and hence, why would it then be of interest to write it? It has happened that I've been offered a pair once though after I've reached out to buy it, in that case I've accepted but then also stated that it was a review pair. Also, I would never review something that I'm obviously biased towards, like a brand that we sell at the company I work for etc, see no point in that. How others act with their reviews etc, that will be on them.

For those who know cultures, they would know that if I were after free stuff it would be stupid to go after so many Japanese makers. In Japan, you always pay what things are worth, it's never even a discussion about anything else. On the other hand, as a guest you are never able to pay for anything at dinners etc though, so maybe I've levelled things up with all the nice stuff I've been out at when visiting ? (this goes whether you've purchased shoes from anyone or not though).

With that said, I'm still open to receiving a 3 pcs boot tree that fits my Alden Indys for review. You all know I was willing to pay for it, so whomever makes them and is reading this send them my way.
In Obeche wood please, they are heavy enough as is. I'm such a nice guy I'll pay shipping costs too. ?

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Speaking of Chinese made shoes, anyone have heavy usage shoes from either Yim or Lu Yang? I know that ThunderMarch has many, but I was curious if anyone else did. Also TM doesn't really wear his, so (like myself) hard to guage break-in and comfort levels from him.
Anywho if you do own from either or both makers, how are they holding up?

Obviously, there are many that have Xibao offerings. Not as many with Jim&Jun. Even less with ACME. It would be great to hear from owners of the accessible Chinese Bespoke maker's shoes.

 

[clee1982]

I’m definitely interested in Jim Jun as it has at least a website and TM has a ton of them so he definitely likes them enough (and I like the plain toe lazyman model Jim Jun has on its website). Only thing is the handwelt version is a bit steep...