Zegna Couture by Ferragamo Shoes

[kcgreg]

I am looking for Zegna couture by Ferragamo handmade tramezza shoes - can anybody help? Size 11-11.5 Wide (EE). Thanks.

 

[Roger]

Just a couple of points: (1) The Ferragamo Tramezza line, Ferragamo's best, are not really hand made, although they'll use a lot of language suggesting that they are; (2) Ferragamo doesn't make shoes--they have them made by various Italian shoemaking operations and then rebrand them. I suspect that they also design the shoes they want made. There is a relatively new shoe line being made via a joint venture involving Zegna and Ferragamo and not surprisingly called Zefer. I very much doubt that any shoe sold by Zegna under their couture banner would be a Ferragamo Tramezza, although on this point I could be wrong. Jcusey would know the answer here and could undoubtedly point you to a source for Zegna couture shoes.

 

[kcgreg]

Thanks for that Roger -

So they are not really hand made. What would be a good pair of shoes then?

Thanks.

 

[Roger]

Originally Posted by kcgreg

So they are not really hand made. What would be a good pair of shoes then?
Wow! You'd get a lot of different answers to that question. The only truly hand-made shoes that I know of are Vass, Lattanzi, and probably Kiton in RTW, but pretty well all the true bespoke shoes (Cleverley, Lobb, Edward Green, etc.). These all carry high price tags. You will likely be very happy with one of the better RTW shoes.

For these, you should consider the Ferragamo Tramezza line shoes that you mentioned if you like the style they come in. They are considered high-quality shoes, are Goodyear-welted, and won't cost you an arm and a leg (just an arm). They run around $600+, I think, at places like Neiman-Marcus, but can be had on eBay (if you know your size) for low $300s. At that price, they are very good value for money. The general consensus seems to be to avoid the lower Ferragamo lines as they are considered overpriced and of middling quality. If you like the Italian esthetic, there are other RTW shoes you could consider: Sutor Mantellassi (for which a very good source is Lance Hughes at Virtual Clothes Horse, an online seller; see link below), Santoni (always lots on eBay), or Zegna (as you originally suggested), but not the couture line (for non-couture you'd be looking at approximately $400); also Canali. Gucci, Prada, and Bruno Magli could be added to this list, but are usually associated with "fashionable" or "fashion-forward" styles, rather than enduring forms.

http://virtualclotheshorse.com/index...4189b449ade009

You might look into the whole realm of British RTW shoes. Affordable lines are Crockett & Jones, Grenson, Alfred Sargent, Tricker's, Church's, and Cheaney (a subsidiary of Church's). For C&J and Cheaney, PLal (online; see link below) can't be beat for price and are easy to deal with. Another online source is Pediwear, from whom you can get C&J, Sargent, Tricker's, Grenson, and a few others, again at good prices (see link below). If you want to spend lots of $$$, there are Edward Green RTW, John Lobb RTW, and Cleverley RTW, but I'd recommend taking your time and doing a lot of homework with these really high-end shoes.

You might do well to lurk around this forum and the Ask Andy forum for a while before buying to learn more about high-quality shoes. There are always lots of threads on all of these brands, and your education can be pretty swift!

http://www.plal.com/

http://www.pediwear.co.uk/