onix
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2009
- Messages
- 3,845
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Shoe Brands with Different Lines
- Salvatore Ferragamo (est. 1929) has 3 main lines of dress shoes: Tramezza (hand-crafted), Lavorazione Originale and Studio. In general, Tramezza is Goolyear-welted, Lavarazione Originale is mostly Blake-constructed, while the Studio line use cement. Overall, Salvatore Ferragamo has attractive last but overpriced. Salvatore Ferragamo and Ermenegildo Zegna co-created a joint venture named ZeFer in 2002. The Tramezza is known to be made by Renzo Tattini of Florence (at least before 2007), it is likely that Renzo Tattini still makes this line.
- Santoni (est. 1975) has 4 main lines of dress shoes: Limited Edition, Fatte a Manos (litterally hand-made), Santoni (main line) or Classic line, and the Nuvola. The last line uses rubber soles. The other lines may use many different constructions including Blake, Goodyear, Norwegian, Bologna and Bentivegna.
- Sutor Mantellassi (est. 1912) does not explicitly divide shoes into categories, but in general, their shoes can be categorized into groups based on constructions. The top line is those that use Norvagese welt. It's then followed by those in Goodyear welt. The last line is the regular line using Blake construction.
- Bruno Magli has three different lines for man dress shoes, the Platinum, the main line Bruno Magli and the lowest line Magli by Bruno Magli. The overall consensus is that they are overpriced (given the quality). Though here is an interesting restoration of a pair: A Tale of Two Shoes.
- Ermenegildo Zegna started a partnership with Salvatore Ferragamo in shoe production by co-creating ZeFer in Milano in 2002. Their three main lines of shoes are at the same par with the lines of Salvatore Ferragamo: Couture XXX (hand-crafted), Ermenegildo Zegna (main line), and Z Zegna. They, however, offer a Limited Edition which is handmade using exotic skin.
- Romano Martegani (est. 1891, Milano): Though not explicitly stated, Romano Martegani shoes can be roughly separated into two lines by their price range. The lower one is around Crockett & Jones bench-grade level, while the higher one is comparable to Crockett & Jones hand-grade. Note that this comparison is very subjective, and comparing Italian shoes and English shoes is more or less like comparing orange and apple, hence this is just a very rough estimate. However, SF's consensus is that they are one of the best value (see this thread). Romano Martegani was introduced to the United States largely due to the effort of Ron Rider (he's a forum member). He maintained a blog about Romano Martegani until mid-2009, then moved to another blog that focuses on both Romano Martegani and his own company, the Rider Boot Company. One of the first shoe review for Romano Martegani was done by John Cusey. Another interesting post, also by Ron Rider, is his dissection of a pair.
- Silvano Lattanzi (est. 1971): Impeccable quality at high price
- Settantatre (Napoli): shoes are made by former masters of Sutor Mantellassi at the same quality.
- Borrelli: made by Sutor Mantellassi, Santoni (Fatte a Manos equivalent or above), and others
- Brioni: made by Silvano Latanzi and others
- Ralph Lauren: speculation around April 2009 is that some of their Purple Label are made by Silvano Sassetti
- Rider Boot Company: made by Calzaturificio Cortina (est. 1955)
- Tom Ford: made by ZeFer (the joint venture between Ermenegildo Zegna and Salvatore Ferragamo)
- Dama Milano: Made to Measure only
- Silvestro: Made to Measure
- Stefano Bemer: Bespoke
- Riccardo Freccia Bestetti: Bespoke including cowboy boots
- Alexader
- Artioli
- Barrett
- Bálint Maßschuh
- Bettanin & Venturi
- Berluti
- Bonora
- Bontoni
- Borgioli Fratelli
- Marini
- De Tommaso
- Enzo Bonafè
- Fratelli Peluso
- John Varvatos
- Georg Materna
- Gravati
- Gucci
- Kiton
- Maftei
- Moreschi
- Paolo Scafora (Napoli)
- Paul Smith
- Peluso
- Peron & Peron
- Petrocchi
- Roberto Ugolini
- Sassetti Silvano
- StefanoBi
- Tanino Crisci
- Testoni
