Ichigo Ichie Shoemaker – Kai Loafer

 

There are loafers and then there are LOAFERS. This loafer is the latter. Made by Ichigo Ichie Shoemaker, aka Lee Trung, out of Japan, this loafer was a well-thought-out masterpiece, and rightfully so. Like many others unhappy in their career, the founder of Ichigo Ichie shoes, Lee Trung, was a software engineer working in Japan before deciding to embark on a much different journey, becoming another one of Japan’s recognized shoemakers. While still young in his career I believe we will see great things from Lee Trung. You can already see this much by the thought process that goes into naming and creating each model. See more details on his site.

This shoe caught my eye and immediately peaked my interest due to its large white piping and that cordovan looking like leather. It reminded me of something I made for myself while apprenticing at Stefano Bemer, which was a red wingtip with white piping (as you can also see below). That white piping is bold and not for the faint of heart. And that used to be me in my younger days 😉 While I now gravitate toward more classic styles of two tones, bold stuff like this still has a special place in my heart.

But what I love most was the fact that it was a long split toe model on a loafer. Something that you do not often see. And mainly by Italian shoemakers with over-elongated toes. This loafer kept an amazing balance of pattern to last. And I particularly liked how the apron fell just a few millimeters ahead of where the tassels fall, showing that the pattern was perfectly executed.

Lastly, the detail of a storm welt on a loafer helped to differentiate this from the rest. Some might find it an contradicting to do so but I think that if you are going full green leather with white piping/upper stitching then really there is nothing more you can add to this to make it more “normal” so might as well keep pushing it to the limit. And thus he did.

And it would apear that other liked it as it has been one of my most likely photos on Instagram, ever. For sure in the last 2 years with IG’s ridiculous algorithms. But hey, glad that this one broke it!

Make sure to check out more by Ichigo Ichie.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ichigoichie_shoemaker

Website: https://ichigoichieshoes.com/