Today's Favorites - Grenson Canvas Cap Toe's

I finally saw someone wearing cool and unique shoes, on Savile Row!!! I can't lie, actually this is the second time, but the first, I was heading to work, had my iPod in, and just couldn't be fussed to ask some random guy to take a picture of his shoes. But as this was a customer who came over to chat, I thought to myself, 'why not?' I was stumped, too, because I thought that I was all clever asking him if they were Lodger, as they have a SS11 style just like this, when in fact, they were made by Grenson (must be the higher-end line) as a special make up for this store in London, that I believe he said no longer exists. Anyway, the shoe was some sort of canvas, with a calfskin cap and laces to match and they were cool!! He even had a hat to match, which was even better and I applauded his bravery for wearing such shoes in a city like London, where you never know if it is going to just start raining at any second. Well, enjoy my first pics of an actual pair of customers shoes. I will try and do this more often, but usually being bombarded by black on people's feet, I just really don't see many people wearing worthy shoes.....

Today's Favorites - Saint Crispin's Part 2

It's tough knowing a brand, that you like a lot, and not being able to see them in the flesh without either buying a pair or flying to the country of origin to visit their showroom. Saint Crispin's, as well as many Japanese and French labels, fall into this category for me. That's the beauty of being a shoe buyer though. If you truly wanted, you could go out and find many up and coming brands that you felt had potential and put them into your store. What a great job! Although, everything sounds easier when spoken versus when taken into action. As Ryan said in the interview below, it's simply not about buying what you, the buyer, actually likes, but more what the mass market will like. In my opinion, that's the downside. Because the mass market tends to like a lot of rubbish and brands that make beautiful shoes, such as these, stay small and never grow out side of their continent and maybe even their country. Yet brands that make crap, like many of the Kurt Geiger products, become a country's biggest seller....and it's all because of one factor: Price.

Price is king.....unfortunately.

Nordstrom Shoe Buyer Interview

Do you ever wonder why the hell a certain shoe brand is gracing the presence of the shelves of a large department store such as Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. Or even asked yourself why some brand that you wish was, actually isn't and probably won't be? Well, I have, as I used to work for a large department store and constantly asked myself, 'why are we selling this, and why aren't we selling these other great labels?' Well, today I have asked my good friend Ryan Taylor to help explain why a large department store, such as Nordstrom, carries the shoes that they do. To give a briefing on Ryan, he is a young guy, who in my opinion was the best manager I ever had, and is someone that I believe will make it to the top ranks of the men's shoe division at Nordstrom. As he has gone all the way up the food chain from Flagship store Men's Shoe department manager, to Assistant Buyer, to Regional Merchandising Manager and just recently promoted to Buy Planner for  the men's shoes division at Nordstrom Rack, Ryan has seen his fare share in the shoe industry and is here to explain. For all of you aspiring shoe designers, listen up, as this will be your holy grail of information into the shoe industry, as Nordstrom would be the golden goose of all stores to have your shoes selling at. Enjoy the interview.

(Shoe by Duckie Brown for Florsheim, available at Nordstrom)

1. As a shoe buyer, what do you look for in a new brand?

- Trend worthiness, quality/value relationship, & a marketing plan.

2. What do you find is critical to a brand's success once they have overcame the initial process of 'getting in' (to a large department store)?

- Marketing & the ability for them to recover (stay in-stock).    

3. When a brand gets signed on, is there a contract whereby the store will guarantee a certain amount of time the brand will be carried or is it dependent upon the brand's 'sell through,' season by season?

– No.  Nobody signs anything except occasionally with an established and successful partner.  

4. What was your favorite thing about being a shoe buyer for a major department store? Your least favorite aspect?

– Favorite is seeing the success of the shoe at retail and maximizing the results with it.  Least would be the details or hoops to jump through just to get a shoe into stores.  

5. As Regional Merchandise Manager, do you still have some influence over what gets put on the floor or is it just your job now to make sure that what gets bought, actually sells well?

– Both.  My old job consisted of maximizing the results of the buy ‘right now’, while also assessing team, customer, & trend feedback which in turn is relayed to the buying team to affect change within a store or entire region.  The key was the timeliness and scope of the call-out.  Was it at the right time so changes could be made either now or for the coming season(s) and also would it be impactful to the overall business and worth the time investment to address it.  

6. What are some of the critical trade shows or ways of discovering new shoe brands?

– FFANY is the only critical show in the US for a retailer the size of Nordstrom.  In Europe MICAM is the most important.  

7. What is your main goal within the shoe industry? At what point would you be happy saying, "I have made it!'?

- To run an efficient & profitable business for a consistent basis.  It’s great to see your decisions, persistence/consistency, competitiveness, and hard work pay off.  I don’t know if at any point you say, I’ve made it.  Especially in retail and especially at Nordstrom we never stop looking for ways to improve results and improve customer service.  You can always do better.

8. How important are the salespeople in a shoe department to a brand's success? Why?

-  It's the driving force along with a good marketing campaign.  Nordstrom has the best sales force in retail; if they get behind something they can drive major sales. Marketing your brand includes marketing to the sales force. This is true for most brands, other than UGG and Toms.

9. What are some of the brands that you have come across that were looked at but never 'purchased for the floor' but that you wished they would have been?

– I’d need to spend more time in my role to assess this.  My buyer Marty really only mentioned Mephisto back in the day because he never thought a $200-$300 walking shoe was needed.  I remember seeing some great items as an assistant buyer or lines I thought had potential, but when you balance it on the business side of whether or not the product would actually produce significant results or whether or not the vendor could be a good partner I never recall something I was heartbroken about not being able to bring in.  There is a big difference between thinking a shoe is cool or something I’d wear and knowing a shoe will sell and produce the results I need.  

10. What are some of the reasons that a large department store will drop a brand that they carry?

– A couple of examples are too much distribution, distribution in the wrong places, & profitability.  Another area that often comes up is a vendor’s inability to fill orders completely, ship PO’s (purchase orders) on-time or at all, or when many errors are found on the orders they do ship.  Disorganization and a poorly run business often discredit and sink a vendor. 


11. What do you hope to see more of on the shoe floor in the next few years?

– I think the direction we are headed with more color options are fantastic.  Rather than selecting a type of shoe or vendor I want to see on our floors the area I’m most excited about for Men’s Shoes/Fashion is how greatly our turn has increased so that the Men’s business is moving closer to the Women’s business with 4 seasons (major deliveries) as opposed to just two with a Spring & Fall.  We’re not there yet, but guys are starting to appreciate more options at the right times and if Nordstrom continues to execute at a high level within our merchant/buying organization and within our sales teams there is no reason they shouldn’t turn to us to take care of them.  



I hope that you have all enjoyed this and learned something new.

Sincerely,

Justin, "The Shoe Snob"

Shoes Of The Week - G & G Factory Finds

 

One of my favorite things about going to Gaziano & Girling's factory is seeing all of the bespoke models lying around, being able to capture the ideas that some individuals have in their minds and appreciate them. On top of that, I am also able to see RTW shoes being produced for other markets, like Asia, which will almost always be different from the shoes that you will see produced for the Western world, i.e. the States and Europe. If one never knew, they might think that the shoes one would will see in a shop in London or New York just might be the same that would be sold in Tokyo, but on the contrary, with completely different tastes in style and aesthetics, they differ tremendously. 

I, to be quite honest, almost always prefer the shoes that I see heading the the Japanese market, as they are usually more unique and different than your average apron or cap toe, two common styles that are certainly going to be a popular purchase in England or the States. That being, as it is hard to see what is sold in other countries (unless you travel there), going to the factory and seeing them allows me to understand what the other markets might think like, and being able to capture that to share with all of you. 

My trip to the factory, however, was not solely for that, and in reality, I was there to finish up (or rather watch as it was finished up) my first pattern. I am quite excited to see what it will look like when it is all made up into a shoe. That will be an exciting day! Pattern making, as I have come to learn, is quite difficult but extremely intriguing. It takes being able to figure things out, things that might not necessarily be obvious, but definitely will be detrimental to the finished product and how it turns up. Because when you look at the pattern pieces all cut out, it might look simple, but in reality, they are tremendously difficult to get precise! Enjoy the pictures and the rest of your weekend...

-Justin, "The Shoe Snob"

Today's Favorites - John Lobb Boots

The jodhpur boot is one of the most intriguing boots around. Not as plain as the chelsea boot, but by far more elegant. I love a shoe/boot that is clean looking i.e. has a large blank canvas of leather, free of stitching. How elegant is it that the leather starts at the toe and extends all the way up to the top, without any stitching? Lovely! The only thing that is throwing me off about these jodhpur boots, by John Lobb, is how the straps end in a way that leaves them almost lying on top of the vamp, as opposed to fastening the other way with the ends sticking out towards the heel. Other than that, this boot is exquisite! And the museum calf, specialized by John Lobb, is one of my favorite leathers of all time. It is so characteristic. It's a patina in itself. There is no fuss necessary. I would love to see how it would age over 20 years, to see if it does so more beautifully than a lovely burgundy shoe....Anyway, as these shoes cost more most people's mortgage payments, $1500, I can safely say, that it will at least be a couple of more years until I can afford to get one.....

Pictures Courtesy Of (and boots found at): Leather Soul

Blog Influence - Wedding Shoes

When I started this blog, as I have said before, it was for two reasons; 1. To make a name for myself before I started my shoe line and 2. To positively influence and assist in the finding of beneficial information and shoe porn. And just recently, I have been able to see that second bit come to life in a major way. That being, I had a reader of mine, who truly took to heart the advice that I have given in the past, as well as purchased some shoes that I recommended and even came to see me to have my shine services put to good use.

A while back I wrote a post about men and their wedding shoes and how I believe that they should not always be black. Instead, I think that, as marriage is something that hopefully only happens once, one should make the most of it and be unique in his outfit, without being over-the-top crazy. Obviously this is subjective and others will disagree. But this reader of mine decided that it sounded like a good idea and therefore purchased a pair of burgundy whole-cuts by Septieme Largeur, a brand that I am quite fond of and have put several times on the blog.

So once he received the shoes, he came to visit me to have them shined up for the big day. I was so taken aback by the story, that I asked him to stay in contact and send me some pictures of the wedding so that I could post it up on the blog. And that he did. So as you can see, he wore his burgundy whole-cuts on the big day, matched the lining of the jacket to the shoes (brilliant I must say!), and looked great with something other than black! And not to pat myself on the back but it was great to know that my advice assisted him in his wedding attire.

Thank you Steve, this is exactly how I hoped to help people!!

-Justin, "The Shoe Snob"

Hom Nguyen - The Leather Artist

There are patina masters and then there is Hom Nguyen. And in case you did not know, this guy makes Berluti's finishes look mediocre, and because of that, I feel (but this is total speculation) that they might even use him to do some of their more outlandish work, such as the 'tattooing.' His artistry is remarkable and to be honest, I am quite jealous of his skills and wish that I knew how to do them as well. Because having this ability is kind of like being a tailor, where you can take existing pieces and alter them to your exact liking. How cool would that be?? Well, as far as background knowledge, I don't have much on him, as every article is in French, but it would seem to be that he is the new kid on the French patina block, making big waves as his work continues to impress everyone!

What's great about the shoe industry these days is that so many unique things are taking place. It has evolved so much over history and even in the last 10 years, things are exponentially changing and progressing to become more diverse and unique. Who would of thought that people would be wearing shoes down the street, that have pictures on them, like tattoos? Or that young urban designers would be collaborating with old conservative shoe companies? Who would have thought? No one!! But it's great that it's happening and I am excited to know that I will soon be apart of that, hopefully making history, and doing so with the help of all of you! Alright, inspirational speech is officially over, so let's get down to Hom business... This guy is simply amazing!! There really is no other way of describing it. He is like the Da Vinci of leather artwork. I mean, look at that Iron Man drawing spread out over 6 shoes. That's crazy, but absolutely brilliant!!

As you can see, his work is not limited to shoes, nor anything for that matter. If it is leather, he can design on it. While I can't imagine that his work is inexpensive, I now know that when I buy my first nice briefcase, I am definitely going to take it to him to give an antiqued look, as I think that briefcases look so much better when given a beautiful patina, instead of just looking flat.

It makes me curious to know, how the art of the patina or leather altering via dye's became so popular in France and who was the pioneer to this lovely industry. It's funny too, that no other country has really stepped up to challenge them. It's such a beautiful art that you would think that other people would attempt it. But as of yet, I have not noticed anyone. But obviously, as things progress, it is inevitable that someone, somewhere will step up to the plate and give the French patina artists a run for their money!