HOW IT’S
MADE

Before any leather is cut, the shoe has already begun to take shape.

In Made to Measure work, the information gathered from the customer’s feet is used to individually adapt a base last — modifying its shape, volume and proportions to better reflect the wearer’s feet.

At this stage, width, length, volume and balance can be adjusted by hand, so the form begins to reflect the person who will eventually wear it.

There is no finished shoe yet. But the process has already begun.

Once the last has been adapted, the pattern is developed around its actual shape.

The lines that define the vamp, quarters, facings, seams and overlaps are translated into individual pieces that will later form the upper.

This is where design and construction begin to meet. Small changes in proportion can alter the balance, appearance and fit of the finished shoe.

Before leather is cut, every line has to make sense.

Once the pattern is ready, each component is transferred to the selected leather and cut individually by hand.

Grain, direction, flexibility and visible character all have to be considered before the blade touches the leather.

What may look like a simple outline is already part of the balance, symmetry and final appearance of the pair.

Every piece has a place. Every cut has a reason.

Once the pieces have been prepared, they are assembled and stitched together to form the upper.

Each seam has both a structural and a visual purpose. Alignment, tension and distance from the edge must remain consistent as different components become a single form.

Depending on the design, different leathers, textures, linings and decorative elements may all have to meet within the same construction.

Stitch by stitch, separate pieces become one upper.

Once the upper has been closed, it is placed over the adapted last and carefully pulled, centred and tensioned around it.

The leather must follow the form correctly through the toe, waist and heel. Too much or too little tension can change both the line of the shoe and the way it will eventually fit.

The upper is progressively secured around the underside while the last gives the shoe its final three-dimensional form.

Until now, we had an upper. Now the shoe has found its shape.

With the upper lasted, the welt is stitched around the perimeter of the shoe, joining it to the insole structure.

The machine follows the contour while the shoemaker controls position, tension and feed by hand. The stitch must remain consistent through the changing curves of toe, waist and heel.

Later, the outsole will be stitched to this welt, creating the characteristic layered structure of Goodyear construction.

The welt is not decoration. It is part of the structure.

Once the welt is in place, work continues inside the bottom of the shoe — an area that will eventually disappear beneath the sole.

Cork fills the space over the insole, while the cedar shank reinforces the waist and helps support the structure of the shoe.

These elements are shaped and levelled before the outsole is added, creating a stable foundation for everything that comes next.

Some of the most important work in a shoe is work you will never see.

Once the internal bottom has been prepared, the next step is the second stitch.

Here, the welt is stitched to the intersole, extending the construction from the underside of the shoe.

In some cases, this stitched layer may also become the final outsole. More often, however, it serves as an intermediate foundation onto which the final sole and heel will later be built.

The shoe is not built in one piece. It is built in layers.

The structure is complete, but the work is not.

Edges are refined, surfaces are cleaned and conditioned, and the leather receives the finishing work required by the design — from a natural polish to more complex hand-applied patinas.

The last is removed, the interior is finished and the pair is inspected as a whole: symmetry, stitching, edges, sole, finish and final presentation.

The difference between finished and truly finished lives in the details.