Corthay bespoke is really pushing the envelope of creativity these days. And it comes as no surprise since I believe Pierre Corthay to be one of the most brilliant shoe artists the world has ever seen. I recently came across this bespoke shoe from one of their 7 Instagram accounts, namely the Corthay_Paris one. It came from a reel that I had to screengrab these photos from, hence the lower quality of them. The shoe, by no means, is my style at all. However, that doesn’t take away from the brilliance that its design is.
Years ago, I am talking like +80 years, you had a lot of creativity in the shoe industry going on. If you look at archives of old shoes you will see designs that you have never seen before, especially uppers with perforations. But through the 70’s to the early 2000’s, I really feel like that all evaporated and we went through a period of just really playing it safe. Of course, you had your outliers, like Berluti (before LVMH) and Aubercy, but overall shoe design was quite ‘standard’, so to speak. But I do feel like it is coming back. Coming back in the sense that shoe designers/shoemakers are starting to push the envelope again.
A lot of makers, while keeping it relatively classic, are challenging the idea of patterns and designs. This bespoke shoe takes that up a notch by completely breaking the idea of the traditional shoe lines. I do not know the idea behind this shoe. In fact, I know nothing about it except that it is bespoke. But I love to see stuff like this even if I would dream of wearing it. I think that it truly shows the love of the shoe and the art of shoemaking. And that is something we need more of.
Corthay continues to impress. I highly suggest following all of their IG accounts. They are constantly showing greatness, especially in the Corthay bespoke program.
Learn more here: https://www.corthay.com/en/
Hi Justin, you are brilliant. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I can’t wait to visit your shop in NYC. Thanks again for enlightening slovenly blokes like myself!
Thank you very much Brian, I do appreciate your kind words and will look forward to meeting you in NYC when you are able to make it!
Hey Justin,
from the look of that last picture there I can see that the welt turns inwards before the big toe knuckle. How would that affect the comfortability of the shoe? Does that enhance arch support? I know from having wide feet that stepping on the welt can be quite uncomfortable, does that happen here?
Thanks, and have a merry christmas!
Hey Steve, thanks for commenting. Considering that these are bespoke, I imagine that they took this into considering. BUT, most truly handmade shoes will have arch stiffeners that nearly extend to the joint providing the support you need. This shoe clearly has it as you look at the waist area and see it a bit puffed out, so to speak. I hope that you too had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year!