HRH Prince of Wales Visit to Gaziano & Girling

It would appear that Gaziano & Girling had the honor and pleasure of hosting the Prince of Wales and Future King into their factory while at the same time honoring him with a very beautiful and unique pair of oxfords. I have to say that the medallion is absolutely gorgeous. It is apart of the emblem of the Royal Family for those that might not be familiar with it and I think that it suits so well the shape and size of a quality shoe medallion and is quite befitting to a classic oxford.

This must have been a great day for my good friends Tony and Dean and I know that they deserve the recognition for their hard work in the industry and making some of the most beautiful shoes the world has yet to see.

Here is a small excerpt from Tony Gaziano, explaining the visit:

“So 4 years ago we sent a letter to HRH POW ask him if he would be interested in a tour of the factory.� He came back with a positive response and giving us a date. However the date was in the middle of the factory summer holiday and most of the staff had already booked their holidays overseas, so we had to cancel.

We thought that we had missed our chance. Then on January 3^rd�I got a call from the lord lieutenant of Northamptonshire, whose job it is to help with Royal visits into the county, informing us that the POW intends to visit the oldest and the youngest factory in the county, so that was G&G and Trickers.

We had a 45 minute visit, and we decided to create a pair of shoes to gift HRH at the end of the factory tour. The model we chose was our most iconic, the St. James, however, we chose to develop a new classic round toe, the R18 for this shoe, and we decided to add a medallion that represented the Prince of Wales feathers. It turned out to be a beautiful shoe. We did hand finishing in the waist, like our deco range. We added a patina finish in our dark margaux�colour which looked similar to the Queen’s Bentley, and we surrounded the shoes with luxury handmade box, bags and other accessories.

I was a little nervous whether the prince would like the medallion, but his face beamed when he saw it and since then his Valet informed me that he loves the shoes. In fact shortly after we got a call from Clarence house asking me and Dean to visit HRH and take a bespoke measure.

It was a great experience and the prince is really super interested in craftsmanship and bringing young people into these forgotten arts, he was super impressed how far G&G had come in such a short period of time.

We will later in the year release a similar shoe and package to the one we made the prince to commemorate the visit.”

Better get on the email and start reserving your pair of these beautiful brogues now!!

Happy Thursday!

Justin FitzPatrick