When Great Companies Go Terribly Wrong!

It almost makes me sad to write this post and share the pictures that I have with you but I feel it is necessary to show what can and will happen if you try too hard to please every single customer. I was inspired to write this post the day that I saw Salvatore Ferragamo create, what in my mind, is the ultimate sin in the shoe world. Now I have seen so many ugly shoes in my time, especially when I worked on a very high-volume sales floor, that sold men's shoes, and nothing could have prepared me for what I saw by Ferragamo that day. I almost collapsed thinking that a company, like Ferragamo, who usually makes such great shoes could go so low to appeal to one, lonely, boring, small-minded customer. Now I had seen before, atrocious shoes made by other brands who like to 'stay on top' of the fashion world (which you will also see in this post) but never had I thought that a company so timeless and elegant would even think to create such an idea. Sadly, I was wrong........










 Shoes by: Ferragamo

The thing is, I love Ferragamo and that's why I was so shocked. What's weird about this though is the fact that the square-toe phenomenon is dead now and this came out way after it's boom. This probably frightened me even worse because it made me think to myself, 'Is this the direction they are heading?' All I can do is pray there this was some sort of mistake for which they made it. What did not surprise me is that the buyers (of the establishment) bought it. And that's why I hate them, the buyers of America who continue to think that they are going forward by buying this old, outdated crap. I can't blame them though because in their minds, there are still customers who want this horrible look and as sad as it is, as long as customers keep purchasing this, buyers will keep buying it. If only I could just permanently end the desire to want a square-toed shoe, I would have to brainwash 1/3 of the American male population.

Top Two: Prada
Bottom Two: Gucci

It makes you wonder if companies will make shoes exclusively for certain countries just to appeal to their needs. This obviously does occur but to what scale is my question? If they happen to make a shoe that does not seem to respond well in it's original intended point of distribution, do you think they might create some sort of recall and then send it to some 3rd world country to try it's luck there? It wouldn't surprise me. What did surprise me though is that I saw that horrible studded shoe by Prada (upper left) in it's own boutique in Midtown Manhattan. I thought to myself, 'What normal, Prada wearing man would wear this?' I sure hope that sales were not satisfactory on that one. And Gucci!! Out of all the designers, they are my favorite and yet to think that they would make a corner-kicker sneaker that looks like those frighteningly cheap shoes that you find all over England that are trying to imitate Italian shoes. I guess Gucci is giving them headway to continue doing so, when in fact no one in Italy wears shoes like those. It just makes you wonder, will every company make crap to just appease certain people even though it's not stuff that they would want to produce?? I could understand making this atrocious stuff, if it is what you have always been making or if it is what you like, but to switch it up like Ferragamo did, just doesn't make sense. Don't have integrity for so many years and then all of the sudden just stop so that you can make a few extra bucks during a recession or to appeal to a minority of people that are not your actual target market.

Shoes by: Church's

Even a classic company like Church's will make some very ugly stuff, like that boot on the left that looks like it belongs in some Goth shop. Who are they trying to appeal to with this boot. The average Englishman?? I don't think so. Now Dolce & Gabbana are known for just making shoes that are outlandish and that look like they just arrived from space. But what was funny is when I found a picture of them and instead of wearing the racy stuff they usually make they are just wearing some very classic shoes. Domenico is wearing some basic black oxfords and Stefano is wearing some very elegant burgundy velour loafers, nothing like the stuff that they usually make. The point of this post: Stick to what you know and who you would really like to sell to. Don't try and appease everyone, or your company will begin to lack in direction. Integrity is the most important thing in branding!! Don't loose it!

Shoes Of The Day

Men's Shoes:

Wow!!! Have you ever seen shoes like these?? Doubtful!! That's one thing that I love about Japanese shoemakers as well as Japanese clientele, THEY HAVE NO FEAR IN WHAT THEY WEAR OR PRODUCE!! One time while I was studying under Stefano Bemer, I saw a pair that my colleagues were working on for one of Stefano's male clients and it was a navy suede chukka boot with pink outlined stars all over it. It was insane. Now, I would never wear something like that but I can definitely appreciate the idea behind it and having something made for you that is unique and personal. That's why I love this shoe by Saion. The fact that every, single part of the shoe (including the shoe trees) is the same color is absolutely amazing and the color itself is quite beautiful as well. I am always interested, if not impressed, by what I see the Japanese coming out with, in term of custom shoes. It makes me excited for the day that I go to Tokyo!!

Women's Shoes:

While my passion very much lies in men's shoes I tend to find myself admiring and critiquing women's shoes just the same. Therefore, I figured I would start to incorporate some ladies' shoes on my site as well. During my stint in the retail sector, I stumbled across this shoe, the 'Bouffant' by Stuart Weitzman, and immediately admired it's design and wanted to get it on the feet of as many women as I could. I was able to sell it to three women and considering I worked in the men's shoe department (which was on a different floor level), I found that to be pretty impressive when a size run usually consists of only 12-15 pairs. I don't know what I loved about it, maybe it's because I am a sucker for bows on ladies shoes or the fact that it's upper was made out of wool. Whatever the case I found it to be very elegant and wanted to have women wearing it. It ended up becoming the most popular shoe in the department and sold out very quickly. Thus, my goal was realized! I have always been impressed with Stuart Weitzman's designs and even though I feel like his target market is directed at wealthy women above 35, I believe that the right young woman with great personal style could make it appear as a younger brand!

Critique The Shoe Snob

So I am now back in England, permanently, continuing my pursuit within the men's shoe/fashion/journalism industries. You will be glad to know that in 2 weekends I will begin making a new pair of shoes to add to my collection, a classic piece with a touch of added flair! On another note, I have become bored with my general posts and wanted to add something to the mix. Considering that I am always the one voicing my opinions on other shoes and people for that matter, I figured that I would allow you, my readers, to do the same and critique me. That being, every week I will add a picture of one of my many pairs of shoes along with an outfit to compliment. I know that my camera quality has never been the highest and continues to lack in luster and so my next project will be to acquire a nice camera to enhance my photography here on my site. Please don't hold back in your opinions, everything matters! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on fashion and my shoe choices. The pair featured in this post are one's that I have shown before, one of my many Creative Recreation shoes. Enjoy!!!!

Sebago's Comeback

It truly is funny how everything reinvents itself and what was once the 'in' thing in popular culture 30-50 years ago becomes once again the 'in' thing in today's modern culture. The two styles that frighten me about this constant reinvention, though, are the 80's and men wearing bell-bottom's with platform shoes. I cringe just thinking about the return of those atrocities. This act of reinvention is one of the reasons for Sebago's current position in the shoe industry. Growing up I would hear the word Sebago and think of old people and boat shoes, never once associating myself with the brand. Today that is different. I just received my very first pair of Sebago shoes. Considering that I already own upwards of 5 or 6 boat shoes (although I have to admit that none of them are as cool as the one's above) I decided to go with something a little different and ended up getting the Fairhaven boot, which you can see HERE in another post. I was quite surprised of how many compliments I received from my friends about the boots while wearing them (not to toot my own horn!). My Sebago's are comfortable, stylish and I look forward to adding more to my collection, preferably the two above!!

Sebago's history goes as far back as 1946 when 3 New England natives created first their hand-sewn penny loafer which was modeled after the then popular Native American moccasin. With this creation, they also pioneered what would become of the company's patented welt-construction (Sebago.com). They have come a long way since those days and our now taking boat shoes to a whole new level. During the recession I feel like shoe companies either needed to revamp their products in some shape or form or suffer through some tough years with the possibility of just straight tanking. Sebago saw this and in an intelligent attempt to reposition themselves in the "fashion shoe" industry began collaborating with many young and fresh designers. You will notice between the plain Sebago in grey/blue above and it's counterpart to it's right with a orange painted toe, both inspired by the French fashion boutique, Collette. In fact, a lot of the shoes that you will see on this post were created through a collaboration between Sebago and some 3rd party designer (such as Ronnie Fieg) or person of influence.

What I love about this recession and modern day culture is the fact that shoe companies can no longer skate by, making the same old crap that they have been for the last 50-100 years. With the bombardment of options these days, you need to be on top of your game as a designer, marketer or distributor of a shoe company in order to maintain your survival. With that, you see these amazing collaborations that create such unique and colorful pieces of footwear. Things are not so plain Jane anymore and that makes me happier beyond belief!! There is no amount of disappointment greater than going somewhere to find something unique and feeling that every shoe looks just like the other one. Luckily, this is happening less and less!! I applaud Sebago's direction and can only hope to continue to see the same amount of creativity, if not more, put into their designs for future collections!!

Shoe Of The Day

While I found these Christian Louboutin's shoes under men's shoes, I have a hard time believing that indeed they are for men. Even though they may be offered for them, you will notice that the construction of these oxfords is very much that of a woman's shoe. In this new day and age where you see lots of ladies trotting about in these wingtip or captoe oxfords with leather soles, you should be able to notice that the mouth of the shoe is cut much larger, exposing more foot/leg/ankle/etc, thus separating their design from a man's equivalent. Regardless, however, of whom these shoes belongs to, what I will say is that I find the color of these shoes to be absolutely amazing. Maybe it's because my favorite color is blue, I don't know, but I just can't help admire the boldness of the color/leather combo. Without that glossy sheen leather, these shoes would not stand out as much and even though I would still very much appreciate them, I think that Christian Louboutin did a fine job with this particular creation.

Shoe Of The Day

Considering, I was just looking at these Alden chukka's in person at Leffot, in New York City, I figured that I would give some love to them. Not that the pictures have any faults to them but believe it or not these chukka's look even better in person. The owner of Leffot, Steven Taffel, was telling me that they have been getting a lot of attention since he added them to his repertoire of shoes. It makes sense!! With that sole, it makes for a great shoe to walk the streets of New York, or any large city that is made up of mostly pavement for that matter. The color of them was what really attracted me to them. It is quite unique when you see it in person and I think would look absolutely terrific paired against some nice denim. It's hard to go wrong with a nice chukka and Alden seemed to nail it on the head with this one!! If you are in NYC any time soon, definitely stop into Leffot in the East Village for a fine display of beautiful shoes!

MBT - Skercher's Shape Up: Are You Kidding Me?

I have seen a lot and lot of ugly shoes in my time. I mean one's so incredibly ugly that I would rather get ridiculed to my face by 100 people than spend a day in them knowing the thousand of terrible thoughts people are going to have about me after seeing me with them. And not that I really give a crap about what other people think about me, considering that I already wear bright colored shoes and I know that old people, as well as others, are always giving me dirty looks and nasty thoughts. But I literally had not known what the meaning of true ugliness in a shoe was until I came across the one pictured above. I practically almost threw up all over myself when I saw it and immediately felt bad for the first person I would see wearing them, thinking that they were doing everything they could to help support 'their posture' and all of the other crap that these shoes promise to provide!! Give me a break!!. Will we, Americans, believe everything we see or hear advertised? It's a joke!!

They probably do provide lots of comfortable cushion, but all of the claims that they make to fix this and fix that are just preposterous. I guess it's like the placebo affect. You get enough people believing what they are seeing and the outcome is realized more because of their belief than because of the actual product or what it is they are believing in. Where are the studies?? Where is the person who used to look like the hunch back of Notre Dame and now stands as straight as an iron board?? Where is this person, I want to see him/her?? I have to hand it to the business man/woman behind the idea though. They are geniuses!! Like Croc's and Tom's, they managed to create a butt-ass ugly product and turn it into a 100 million dollar business. My hat is definitely tipped off to them. But what makes me sad is the fact that all of these Americans are so easy to just jump on any old band wagon that they see everyone else jumping onto. Good thing there are not more people committing suicide by jumping off cliffs because as easily as the American population loves to follow what everyone else is doing we would have a drastic decline in the members of our society!

As you can see, they have managed to make this product out of almost every type of shoe there is: running shoes, casual shoes and sandals. The only thing lacking is an MBT or Shape Up dress shoe. For me it is pretty much blasphemy to even put those words in the same sentence but if I know a good business man/woman, then I know that that is what is going to be next. And I dread the day!!!!!  If you happen to come across my blog, searching for MBT's or Skercher's Shape Up's, absorb what I have to say and truly think about why you want to buy this product. If it is because you like the looks or the idea of a ton of cushion, so be it, buy these hideous shoes!! But if it is because you think that it is going to allow you to "get more by having to do less," AKA cure your back pains and get a stronger back just by walking, then put on your common sense hat and use your brain a little! Don't be dumb people, please!! You really believe that Tom's is giving away one shoe to a kid in need for every one that is sold??? From a practical, mathematical and business standpoint, it is very unlikely that he continues to do so!! Use your brains........

Shoe Of The Day

There is nothing like a beautiful, well made shoe. There is especially nothing like a beautiful, well made shoe that is 3 shades of blue calfskin. This shoe, by Anthony Delos, has to be one of the most beautiful shoes I have encountered. Not that it is something that has not been done before, but I am such a sucker for blue and the way he created the patina and the colors that came out of that, make for an extraordinary piece of art!! I think that my next investment just might have to be a nice royal/navy blue calfskin shoe. That is just something that is unfortunately lacking from my closet and that badly needs to be taken care of. This is art at its finest folks!!

Creative Recreation

Now I don't know about all of you, my readers, but I am a huge sneaker guy! Being a sneaker guy, it is tough finding brands that are not just the run of the mill wannabe sneaker line that puts out a couple of styles and then slowly fades away due to the massive sea of existing brands. It is refreshing, however, when you do find a brand that is creative (no pun intended), stylish, consistent and affordable. Creative Recreation has been that brand for me! While they have styles that I would never dream of wearing, for the most part they have made and continue to make a lot of styles that I just love! However, some of those shoes that they make though, that I would never wear are also part of the reason I like them. They are daring and take chances in making crazy color patterns and styles. I appreciate that. It must be tough to be a designer and come up with stuff that has not been seen but that is also edgy, catchy and consistent!

The company was founded in Orange County, California by Robert Nand and Rich Cofinco. At the time, they felt that there was a void in the sneaker industry and wanted to fill that niche with their new company. They felt that this gap was so defined, that there was absolutely nothing filling the void between straight forward athletic sneakers and dress shoes. Therefore, they wanted to introduce 'the dressy sneaker.' And so they did!! Receiving a lot of their inspiration from traveling, the duo managed to make designs based off of their worldly inspirations and create a brand that is not only huge in the US but can also be found as far as Asia. Considering it has only been 8 years since their introduction, I applaud their drive and success!! In the States, you can find Creative Recreation's being sold from a spectrum of stores that goes from small sneaker shops all the way to Nordstrom, Barneys New York and an exclusive line at Saks Fifth Ave. It does not get much better than that!

As you can see above, they even do women's shoes. If you click on the link that is associated with their name (on my blog) you will see just how amazing their site is and how many different style and color options they offer! Aside from their more mass produced collections, they also obtain a more exclusive line that is made in Italy and can see as little as 90-100 pairs made per style, worldwide. That sounds like exclusivity at it's finest. You can be sure that if you own a pair of these that you have an insanely high chance of not running into anyone that will have the same pair of shoes that you do and if you do, by all means go buy a fucking lotto ticket! In the States though, this line can also be exclusive to one store. For example, the Turino style (pictured below in 3-green, purple & orange) can only be found Saks Fifth Ave. As far as their other 'collection' styles I feel like the rest of them are most likely found at smaller high-end sneaker boutiques.

While I own 4 Creative Recs, I figured that I would just post my favorite one to show my support and appreciation of the brand. I love this model and wear it quite often. Anytime a shoe has a mixture between leather and some fabric, I am usually sold as long as it's not too crazy. This form of tweed is my absolute favorite, so when I saw these I had to pick them up!