I have been wanting to see the Kanpekina brand in the flesh for a long time now and I finally stumbled upon them while at Pitti. To be quite frank, I was quite pleased and disappointed at the same time. The shoes were well made and lovely, but I was not crazy about the direction of this year’s theme of camouflage and pony hair. I hope that it was simply a seasonal choice and not a “fashion” oriented direction for the company. Having that slight disappointment neither really being here nor there, it was good to see them nonetheless. The down side however, mainly for all of you, is that they are pretty much impossible to acquire outside of Japan. Their only stockist in EU is Upper Shoes in France, and forget about it if you live in North America.
I asked about private labeling (as they make the shoes in Japan), in case my factory simply can’t make the button boot for me, but the wholesale prices would make a pair of mine very expensive (circa £600-£650). But I have not ruled it out. Let’s see how my trip to Spain will be, coming in early Febraury. I hope successful!
do i see leopard prints? and hearts? i will not even enter a store if these were on a window display – regardless of the amount of artistry and craft that went into making these shoes. this is why less, and being conservative (i cant believe i just said that), is more.