Aubercy Part 3: Masaru Okuyama, Tuczek, Anthony Cleverley

Another project that Xavier Aubercy has just started working on is the publicizing of other less known shoemakers from the various countries around the world that one may not think about. That being, because Xavier loves the idea of well-made, put-your-heart-into-it footwear, he is doing his best to spread the name of less known artists, such as Masaru Okuyama, in order to spread the love, so to speak. I thought that this was so brilliant. There is nothing in it for Xavier, and there is nothing that you can really do with this display, as in you cannot order here or buy anything, but it just allows for Mr. Okuyama and other small artists to show their work in a shop that has a history and customer base that might appreciate this type of footwear. And the idea is to periodically switch it up to highlight other artists from around the world so that more and more people can become aware of shoemakers that they may not otherwise think to find. How brilliant and selfless is that? Very brilliant in my mind!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another thing that is interesting about Xavier, is that his love for shoes also makes him a collector of them, at least a collector of shoes that used to be. What I mean by that is the fact that he has a collection of shoes from the likes of legendary makers Mr. Nikolaus Tuczek and Anthony Cleverley (George Cleverley’s brother), which sort of creates a benchmark for him to which he can then use as a standard to his own shoes. You see, while the shoe industry is far more advanced in this day and age where you have all of these different type waists, constructions, and crazy patterns with respects to the way in which it was 80 years ago, the attention to detail and quality of work (at least for stitching) back then was far greater than it is now. Having these things gives inspiration…. Inspiration to make products that stand against them, that are good enough to say, “we still maintain the level of work that that the legends used to do.” And I must say, that the closing on Aubercy’s RTW and MTO shoes is phenomenal! Double rows of stitching with not one off-beat stitch are hard to come by, and yet on all Aubercy’s shoes, the stitching is perfect…..