Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to why you launch a new product. Something just happens in time and all things fall into place. That is kind of what happened with the Braided Laurelhurst II. I was at our factory and noticed a braided shoe and enquired about seeing the factory that does the braiding as I was intrigued. I had mixed feelings about braided shoes. I never liked all of the Mezlan ones that I used to see while selling at Nordstrom. But I loved the Allen Edmonds Hampstead (which I had a pair of many years ago) as well as some of Carmina’s early braided options, which gave me the inspiration to try it out on our shoes. Plus I just felt like it was time for something new. Seems like many people had that same feeling as braided shoes have been a big hit in 2018!
You always see braided leather in this sort of orange colored brown leather so naturally, I did one of those in the Gold Museum Calf (which came out great) but what you do not see as often and what I was more intrigued about was doing a suede version. We started this off in the dark brown suede as it is typically your safe and go-to color for a suede shoe option and thankfully it came out amazing. I love my pair and come proper Summertime I am going to live in them. I really like how the braiding looks in the suede version. It adds a completely new element to look of a suede loafer and I dare say makes it so that you can wear them with shorts which I would otherwise not condone!
You will find that casualness of the braided look, allows you to wear these on a very relaxed level i.e. with your denim, chinos or even a pair of shorts. But don’t let that trick you into thinking that underneath a nice cotton or linen suit they would be misplaced. Because that couldn’t be further from the truth. Imagine the gold museum underneath a pair of khaki colored cotton trousers and the brown suede paired with a set of navy linen trousers? You see that? It looks amazing, trust me!
Thanks as always for all of your support!!
Justin, ‘The Shoe Snob’
https://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/
1 thought on “Discover the Laurelhurst II Braided Loafers – J.FitzPatrick Footwear”
Hideous, I tell ya… lol!