One of the most well-known quality shoe companies in South America is Casa Fagliano from Argentina, world famous for their polo boots but who also produce a bunch of other types of footwear. Rodolfo Fagliano – the grand old man of the company – sadly passed away last week, at the age of 94.   I don’t write about South American shoe brands that often, main reason for this is that I lack knowledge of this world to a large degree, I have to admit. One company that I do know very well though, is Casa Fagliano. It was founded already in 1892 by Pedro and Giacomina Fagliano, who came to Argenti ..read more

Many shoe factories and shoemakers use plastic coverage during the manufacturing process, to protect the uppers from stains and marks. When one remove this at the end of the production, you will inevitably end up with plastic left. About this topic, and how to handle it (or not handle it), in this article.   In a shoe factory or a workshop of a bespoke shoemaker, it’s standard to protect the upper of the shoes in some way, from the harsh machines and / or tools as well as edge ink etc. that can cause issues. It varies how it’s done, everything from fully plastic covered plus extra tape se ..read more

One of the more established players that has emerged on the Chinese scene of men’s shoes in recent years is Oct. Tenth, the house brand of what’s known to many as the Xibao workshop. With the move to a new workshop location, a new website, and a new factory manager, they now enter the era of Oct. Tenth 2.0. Here’s a buyer’s guide to the brand, with a pair of Made to Measure derbies I have made as a base.   About the company Oct. Tenth is one of the more well-known Chinese premium brands of welted men’s footwear. It’s based in Shanghai, and was founded by the couple Yao “Xibao” Zhang  ..read more

The finalists have been selected. We’ll have a Chinese, a Japanese and a Swiss battling it out in the shine final, and the same Swiss (!) and two from France fighting for the patina title. Finals take place at the London Super Trunk Show on May 4. See their submissions here.   You may read all about the London Super Trunk Show in this article, and we appreciate if you visit the event’s Facebook page and let us know you’re coming and help share the event. It’s organised by Shoegazing, The Shoe Snob and Kirby Allison, and takes place on Saturday May 4, in the centre of London at the ve ..read more

Many both well-established and brand new brands have tried to offer bespoke shoes where one use 3D scans as base for the last production – all have failed. Now the industry giant Carmina steps into the game. I was one of the first in the world to get to try the service, find out if they have succeeded or not in this substantial review.   FACTS: Brand: Carmina Model: Modified 80777 plain toe derby Leather: Horween Chromexcel Colour: Natural Last: Bespoke version of Calvià Sole: Lactae Hevea rubber sole Price: €1 500 / $1 600 (These are a review pair from Carmina) Good casuals.   ..read more

The Indian brand Bridlen have always manufactured all their shoes on a Made to Order basis, to be able to offer a really wide selection of styles, sizes and widths. Now they introduce a new RTW range as a complement, for those who want to have their order shipped immediately.   I’ve previously praised the type of MTO service that Bridlen offers. Since they own their own factory they can have very short lead times on production and sell MTO without an upcharge, with delivery within 3-4 weeks, but still with the possibility of exchanges and returns. This means that they don’t need to carry ..read more

Usually exotics aren’t really my thing, but this exquisite vintage lizard leather in a subtle dark brown really spoke to me. The pair is made by the Italian shoemaker Calzoleria Carlino, who currently runs a campaign with no upcharge on orders of lizard leather for their MTO, MTM or bespoke.   I’ve written a Buyer’s guide to Calzoleria Carlino earlier, following the making of my first remote bespoke pair made by them, a lazyman in vintage pigskin. Read that article here. Calzoleria Carlino is based in Sassuolo, and has grown steadily in recent years. The workshop is run by Riccardo Cianci ..read more

The most buzzing segment of the quality shoe world at the moment is the workwear boot scene. Old big players are more successful than ever at the same time as plenty of new brands and small workshops pop up every year. Few know more about this part of the shoe world than Ben Robinson of the footwear website and more, Stitchdown, who’s the guest of this podcast episode.   As you likely know, Shoegazing’s focus on the site, podcast, events etc is on classic dress shoes. Stitchdown is sort of the equivalent within the world of workwear boots, or heritage boots, or whatever you want to call i ..read more

The huge shoe event in London is back for its sixth instalment, on Saturday May 4. There’ll be 14 shoe and menswear companies from around the globe exhibiting, a marketplace for second hand shoes, a free shoe shining service, plus the finals of the world championships of shoe shining, shoe patina and shoemaking. Here’s all info about the big day.   Location: Showcase.co, 12 Regent Street, St. James, London. Date: Saturday May 4 2024 Full schedule for the day: 11.00-18.30 Trunk show open for the public, FREE OF CHARGE AND NO REGISTRATION NEEDED. Exhibitions with: Platinum sponsors ..read more

Suitably in time for spring, the American footwear company Red Wing releases a new low version of their famous moc toes, called Shop Moc Oxford. Available in three different leathers, and initially only dropped in Europe and Japan, this is a new potential best seller.   Red Wing is a brand that needs no introduction. The huge American footwear company who successfully have managed to merge tradition and modernity (just the fact that they have a woman CEO and several other women in their highest management team is a testament to this), whose Japanese branch sort of kicked off the entire wo ..read more