Another Spanish Shoe brand - Yanko

[Emil S]

Hello Emil,
bought from you, these are MTO, the cost of an MTO Yanko in your store, of course you know.
I have expressed my opinion, for possible buyers, whether or not to listen to my experience is up to future buyers.
Сan buy it for 100 euros or not, I don’t know, but paying more for them is stupid.

Of course you are free to express your view on the quality. However its important to stay to the facts and Yanko uses leatherboard in the heel, not plastic. For the toe stiffener plastic is used like most other gyw brands like Carmina, Loake etc.
We have had 0 complaints about the quality of the aging of the suede over the years. The leather is sourced from Annonay and suede from Italian tanneries.
Once again - I respect your oppinion and of course its your full right to express them, just wanted to clarify that the materials used is of high quality and its not plastic heel counter, so the facts need to be correct.

 

[Vadim T]

its not plastic heel counter

Ок, no problem, probably you're right, I did not cut the heel to the end.

The leather is sourced from Annonay and suede from Italian tanneries.

Yes, but too thin.
The face of suede and leather is good, I do not deny this, but if the factory uses such thin materials for the upper of the shoe that it prevents them from using a denser and thicker interlinig fabric.
And in general, why there GY construction?
Who wants to do resoling on Yanko?
It doesn't make sense.
If they leave the same materials as now, but will use cemented construction and reduce the price by half, that's when you get a good price/quality ratio.

 

[Schweino]

Interesting, I have 3 pairs of Yanko shoes and one pair of boots and never noticed the quality to be sub-par. I also have a pair of Yanko shell cordovan shoes which seems to be built pretty sturdy. All my pairs are about 3 to 4 years old.

 

[masernaut]

I will chime in and say that I am unimpressed with the suede used on Yanko's shoes. I do find it thinner than what is used on my Carminas and Alfred Sargents, for example.

As for smooth leather, it is not thin and it is comparable to other brands. Construction wise, Yanko is good and very competitively priced.

 

[Vadim T]

Construction wise, Yanko is good and very competitively priced.

Yes, the build is very neat.

 

[Vadim T]

As for smooth leather, it is not thin and it is comparable to other brands

Оn my С&J and Alden leather is thicker.

 

[j ingevaldsson]

My opinion is to buy Yanko at full price, it is a waste of money.
Only on sales and no more than 100 euros, but better to pass by.
Thin suede and leather, very thin interlining fabric, plastic heel and toe.

Ок, no problem, probably you're right, I did not cut the heel to the end.

Yes, but too thin.
The face of suede and leather is good, I do not deny this, but if the factory uses such thin materials for the upper of the shoe that it prevents them from using a denser and thicker interlinig fabric.
And in general, why there GY construction?
Who wants to do resoling on Yanko?
It doesn't make sense.
If they leave the same materials as now, but will use cemented construction and reduce the price by half, that's when you get a good price/quality ratio.

No offence, but when you do posts like this, it's better to actually know what you are talking about. Especially since other people who don't know that much might think that you know what you are talking about, so to speak.

First of all, yes, the suede on Yanko is relatively thin, since it's split suede, not full reverse calf suede. Split suede is used by basically all brands in the budget segment of Goodyear welted shoes, as well as many brands in the midrange segment. It's only in the premium segment that only full reverse calf suede is used. Comparing to the brands you mention, I at least know that C&J uses split suede for almost all of their shoes in the Benchgrade range, while reverse calf suede for Handgrade. For Alden, I'm not sure, I know they use F. Stead suede but only sure that they use Janus calf (reverse suede) for their unlined shoes, might be Repello (split suede) for lined ones, but again not sure. Worth noting here is then of course that Yanko costs below €300, about half the price compared to C&J and Alden.

The smooth calf Yanko use is as mentioned above mainly from the French tannery Annonay, generally condidered to be one of the best tanneries in the world for shoe leather. Annonay's leathers are relatively thin in general, not as thin as for example Polish calf skins in general, but still quite thin (usually about 1,2-1,4 mm). This is the same when for example John Lobb Paris or Edward Green use Annonay leathers (although they of course only have highest grade and use less of the hides than Yanko). In general though, the thickness of the leather doesn't say much about the quality, not in any direction. There can be thick leathers that are awesome, as well as thick leathers that are ****, and the other way around, thin leathers that are superb and thin leathers that suck. And most makers uses a lot of different types of leathers, both thick and thin ones.

Canvas backings is a common way to reinforce shoes, sometimes only with this, sometimes together with leather backings, and is used by most factories making welted shoes. It can vary, sometimes you use it for some leathers you produce shoes in, while not in others, sometimes for all. The fabric backing not only reinforce, it also prevents creasing.

Here is a picture I took in Crockett & Jones factory, of the different reinforcements used, including canvas backings:

Here are a couple of pictures from an article I did where I disassembled a shoe from Loake, one from Carmina and one from Paolo Scafora together with two bespoke shoemakers. You may read the article here, you will probably learn a lot, we go through what everything is in the entire shoes and it's purposes etc.

This pic is of the Carmina shoe:

This is from the hand welted Paolo Scafora shoe, priced at around €1000, still as you see use fabric backings:

Yanko do not use plastic heel stiffeners, they use leather board. Impressive that you write out that they use plastic heel stiffeners, then state that you actually didn't look.
Yanko do use plastic/celastic toe stiffener, as basically all Goodyear welted shoes in the world do, from Meermin up to Gaziano & Girling Deco or Edward Green Top Drawer.

I've seen Yanko shoes that are more than a decade old that has been resoled twice, still holding up well. It is a relatively cheap Goodyear welted shoe, yes, but excellent quality for the price point and well worth resoling at least once, if you have been caring for them and managed to keep them in a good condition.

 

[Vadim T]

No offence,

Why should I be offended?
That I bought shoes that don't satisfy me?
So this is my experience, no one deceived me, didn’t force me, I bought it myself, I will never buy it again, I learn from mistakes, perhaps someone will learn from my mistakes.

Have you noticed that I'm not accusing the seller of anything?
I'm just stating the facts.

but when you do posts like this, it's better to actually know what you are talking about. Especially since other people who don't know that much might think that you know what you are talking about, so to speak.

Yes, I was mistaken, this is a really leatherboard, which behaves like plastic.
No offense, but the shoes didn’t get any better, from the recognition of this fact.

First of all, yes, the suede on Yanko is relatively thin, since it's split suede, not full reverse calf suede.

It doesn't justify anything, Yanko uses what it uses.
Split or reverse, it makes no difference to me, I don’t cherish blind reverence for revers.
There is a thick split suede of excellent quality, and there is a revers suede of poor quality.
You know that very well.

Canvas backings is a common way to reinforce shoes, sometimes only with this, sometimes together with leather backings, and is used by most factories making welted shoes.

Where do I say it's bad?
Please re-read my post more carefully.

Here is a picture I took in Crockett & Jones factory, of the different reinforcements used, including canvas backings:

You may read the article here,

Yes, I have read these materials.
Jesper, I have been reading your blog for a very long time, and I treat your work with great respect.

Yanko do use plastic/celastic toe stiffener, as basically all Goodyear welted shoes in the world do, from Meermin up to Gaziano & Girling Deco or Edward Green Top Drawer.

Apparently these brands use better quality plastic/celastic. Not a single pair of my shoes doesn't sound like a plastic bottle, ranging from relatively expensive (Vass, C&J, Alden) ones to budget ones (Morjas, Velasca).

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Why should I be offended?
That I bought shoes that don't satisfy me?
So this is my experience, no one deceived me, didn’t force me, I bought it myself, I will never buy it again, I learn from mistakes, perhaps someone will learn from my mistakes.

Have you noticed that I'm not accusing the seller of anything?
I'm just stating the facts.

Maybe it's language issues, but much of what you wrote are anything but facts. For example, "paying more [then €100] for them is stupid" is hardly facts, it's one persons opinion about one pair of shoes. In fact, general opinion is that Yanko is worth more than it's RRP of below €300. I'm sorry if you were disappointed with your pair, I haven't seen those, maybe it was a bad example. But I've seen hundreds and hundreds of Yanko shoes, been in contact with hundreds of pleased Yanko customers, and this thread is another evidence, that what you state there is anything but fact. They are not perfect, they ship shoes with flaws every now and then, as every shoe factory, but it's a different thing than stating that it's "stupid to pay more than €100 for them".

Yes, I was mistaken, this is a really leatherboard, which behaves like plastic.
No offense, but the shoes didn’t get any better, from the recognition of this fact.

Sorry that you experienced it this way. Maybe you have feet that don’t match the heel shape of Yanko’s last at all, and leather board can only conform so much, not re-shape totally. Again, you are an exception. Listen to people in this thread for proof of this.

It doesn't justify anything, Yanko uses what it uses.
Split or reverse, it makes no difference to me, I don’t cherish blind reverence for revers.
There is a thick split suede of excellent quality, and there is a revers suede of poor quality.
You know that very well.

Ok, I don't follow. You write "The face of suede and leather is good, I do not deny this", "Yes, the build is very neat", and then state leather is "too thin" and "the factory uses such thin materials for the upper", I of course think that it is the thin leather you are unpleased with. So I explained why it was a thin leather.

Where do I say it's bad?
Please re-read my post more carefully.

Sorry, language barrier, I misread. If I understand correctly, you think the fabric is too thin? You can then just read it the other way around.

Yes, I have read these materials.
Jesper, I have been reading your blog for a very long time, and I treat your work with great respect.

Glad you read the blog!

Apparently these brands use better quality plastic/celastic. Not a single pair of my shoes doesn't sound like a plastic bottle, ranging from relatively expensive (Vass, C&J, Alden) ones to budget ones (Morjas, Velasca).

Sorry again, but don't follow here. I was talking about the toe stiffener, does that sound like a plastic bottle on your Yanko pair? How can it do that? Also, Vass uses real leather stiffeners.

 

[Pengemisbaek]

Hi, anyone has experience evaluating the instep of yanko?
I have enzo bonafe oxford 74945 last 6uk fits well overall.
But when i tried yanko 962 6uk
, i had heel slip and i cannot lace the facing properly coz too tight already.

Any recommendation of yanko last that have higher instep?

Thanks

 

[Phoenician]

Anyone know or own this boot and care to comment please? I know it’s a G width, which I’m good with but wondering as to the overall quality and the quality of that Cambridge leather that’s used
thanks very much for any feedback

 

[Emil S]

Hi, anyone has experience evaluating the instep of yanko?
I have enzo bonafe oxford 74945 last 6uk fits well overall.
But when i tried yanko 962 6uk
, i had heel slip and i cannot lace the facing properly coz too tight already.

Any recommendation of yanko last that have higher instep?

Thanks

961 has higher instep compared to 962.

 

[Emil S]

Anyone know or own this boot and care to comment please? I know it’s a G width, which I’m good with but wondering as to the overall quality and the quality of that Cambridge leather that’s used
thanks very much for any feedback

The leather is from D’Annonay, its a great leather of high quality and used by many other large brands, it takes polish in a good way and easy to give a nice shine.

 

[Phoenician]

The leather is from D’Annonay, its a great leather of high quality and used by many other large brands, it takes polish in a good way and easy to give a nice shine.

Thanks very much, appreciate the positive feedback!!

 

[Pengemisbaek]

961 has higher instep compared to 962.

Thank you for the feedback .