During my time in Milan, I basically did 4 things: 1. Went to Lineapelle to look at and source new leather/fabrics/cloth etc. for making shoes; 2. Went to the Ilcea tannery for a tour and to talk about using them in the near future; 3. A visit with the brothers behind Barbarnera and 4. Last but certainly not least, a long overdue visit to one of my favorite shoemakers, Mr. Riccardo Bestetti. It was a great trip overall and I had a lot of fun and not to mention how I excited I am to start using the new materials/leather that I will be sourcing for my shoes in the never-ending quest to make them the best that they can possibly be. That being, I have 3 long posts to write up for this trip but what you may not realize is that for each post, I took about 70-100 pictures and it takes time to edit them all. That being, I thought that I would give a small sneak peak into what I was up to, starting with these beauties by Bestetti.
I went to visit Bestetti and as I was taking pictures of his stuff and doing some bits and bobs, he asked me to try on a pair of shoes for fitting. This pair of shoes just so happened to be the ones in the pictures in this post and also happened to be a sample that Bestetti had made on his own personal last. Strangely enough, Bestetti’s feet are nearly identical to mine as this bespoke last felt great on me! I told him that they fit brilliantly and he said, ‘okay Justin, please take them as a small gift and token of my appreciation. That is if you want them of course.’ One thing I have learned about my time with Italians (remember that my wife is one and so is all of her family!) is that you never turn down a kind gesture, no matter how small or big. But it’s not like I would have wanted to anyway, as these things are absolute stunners and I have never had anything with Croc on it before. I was very grateful to Bestetti as he has always been one of my favorite shoemakers and even though I have my own line (and thus shoes), it would be an absolute pleasure and honor to wear a pair of his, especially when they are this cool! —- Grazie amico mio!
Stay tuned on a much longer and more picture heavy write up of my time in his workshop and with the man behind the shoes.
On a completely separate note, for those of you in Singapore, Kevin Seah has just recently taken stock of some Stefano Bemer shoes for those of you interested in trying a pair on and maybe ordering one too. He will have them for 1 month so get in there while you can. Kevin will also be hosting Gaziano & Girling for a trunk show next Monday and Tuesday so don’t miss that either!
More to come soon!
Justin, “The Shoe Snob”
Just wow.. Beautiful shoes… and nice host! Enjoy!
J,
Those shoes are absolutely stunning. I’m sure you will wear them well!
-JLJ