Shoes with all options<

By Valérie Guédon Published , Updated

Personalization is on the increase in men's shoes, among bootmakers and fashion labels.

In the early 2010s, the arrival of traditional houses on the catwalks gave rise to a whole wave of personalization in men's ready-to-wear. From luxury to mid-range, many brands have simultaneously launched half-measure, "made to order" or "tailored made" services. A few seasons later, this one-piece trend seems to be bouncing back on shoes.

Returning to Ermenegildo Zegna as artistic director of the entire house, Alessandro Sartori began by developing a service of shoes made on demand, in tandem with the English bootmaker Gaziano & Girling (our editions of November 10). From next January, Gucci will offer the possibility of selecting the patches and embroideries that will decorate your future sneakers, even the color of the bit of the mules or moccasins brought up to date by Alessandro Michele.

Since the start of the school year, Prada has been setting up an itinerant customization service for its pair of emblematic brogues mounted on thick rope soles. Also the very chic Berluti offers to tattoo the motifs of the season's parade on the pair of your choice. “Personalization is developing in shoes because men are quite fond of these little selfish details, analyzes Jérémy Grodenic, buyer at Le Bon Marché. He can thus access all the options in the same way as for a car.”

A personal pleasure that Parisian bootmaker Pierre Corthay has been satisfying since 1990: “Gentlemen have the same boyish fascination with shoes as they do with mysterious and complex automobile or watchmaking mechanics, which, as the icing on the cake, can make them shine. at dinners. This growing taste for unique shoes - even sneakers - justifies the revival of personalization services among traditional shoes.

In September, Salvatore Ferragamo unveiled Tramezza, a line made exclusively to customer specifications. From three classics of the house, this one can obtain a personalized specimen by modifying the quality and color of the leather, the style of the buckles and other finishes. Before the summer, it was his Italian colleague Santoni who launched, on his e-shop, the #MySantonicolours space allowing you to customize the Carter, a derby with a double buckle, through sixteen colors for the entire upper or different parts. We can also mention Fratelli Rossetti, which provides a palette of around thirty shades applied using its so-called Toledo technique, a dabbing of the color by hand which makes each piece unique.

A thrilling experience

“These services help brands to improve their relationships with customers while surfing on new, ever more individualized consumption patterns, observes Jérémy Grodenic. There is obviously marketing involved in all of this. Customization updates emblematic models without taking too many risks. We give the floor to the customer, who will himself give a second life to a pair of which he modifies the leather, the color or the patina... These changes do not alter the shape, which has long-time followers.

Also, imagining your own shoes would be an exhilarating experience. An exercise that Tim Little, the owner of the Grenson shoemaker, who set up G-Lab, a customization service worthy of the best car tuning garages, is however keen to oversee. “Even if it can be very exciting, you don't just improvise as a designer from one minute to the next. The consumer may suddenly feel lost in the face of the multitude of possibilities. The seller's advice is fundamental."

This venerable English shoemaker can afford such a piecework manufacturing service thanks to its factory of around sixty craftsmen, not far from Northampton. A modular organization similar to that of the Parisian house Aubercy, which does not hesitate to suspend its creations for more special orders. "Our singularity is that we are a small family structure with a limited but extremely qualitative production capacity, explains Xavier Aubercy, fourth generation at the head of this landmark of aficionados of well-shod elegance, located rue Vivienne, in Paris, since 1935. We can more easily adapt to particular orders and produce singular creations. This ranges from an honorary consul from Malawi who wanted derbies in the colors of his adopted country, to an architect who came with his sketch, to a client who wanted a double buckle model different from the standards. With each of them, we have four hands fashioned an original shoe.

Not far from there, in the same 2nd arrondissement, rue Volney, Pierre Corthay also applies the flexibility of his tailor-made know-how to his ready-to-wear collections. Count all the same more than 1,500 euros for a pair modified by him! “You can wear a loosely tailored half-tailored suit and have a semblance of allure. On the other hand, the shoes do not support the approximation. It is a fragile balance, a thing in motion which undergoes the worst aggressions throughout its life. A detail changes and everything is turned upside down,” he describes to justify the prices. Another point of detail that feeds the conversations of these gentlemen about their personalized shoes.