I have always had conflicting feelings towards the Norwegian stitch construction. On the one hand it looks very sturdy and makes me feel that put on a shoe, would make that shoe last forever. It is becomes almost a necessity to have it be on a double sole, which makes it that much more heavier and that is the precise reason for me being steered away from the idea for this long. But the longer that I am in England, suffering through wet and cold autumn/winters, the more that the idea of a big, heavy & robust shoe/boot starts to appeal to me. That being, when I came across this lovely grey suede darby brogue by Koronya, I felt quite intrigued by it, not only for the fact that it is grey suede (something that I am always fond of) but because of it’s slim like nature perched on top of a robustly constructed sole. It is precisely the type of shoe (assuming that you don’t ruin the suede first) that you could find yourself connected with for many years but would also be something to get used to if you have never tried a Norwegian welt before….the beauty of expanding your horizons…..
On another note, I put my baby boy’s handmade shoes to the test and while a little bit big, fit just lovely! Thanks again The Little Shoemaker!
great design abilities and informative blog–thank you. One question: after living and apprenticing in Italy learning the craft, how and where did you acquire funding for startup of line and associated production and manufacturing costs for launch of your shoe lines?
my family/business partner’s family — private funding….other routes: banks or investors…but they either have a very high interest rate or take a percentage of your company…these days there is Crowd Funding…look into Kickstarter….one of the most brilliant ideas that has ever been created.
Justin, how does Norwegian differ from a Goodyear Welted shoe in terms of construction, do they still use a welt? I assume that Norwegian technique is always done by hand even in RTW?
Anand
See Anand: https://theshoesnobblog.com/2011/07/shoes-part-1-construction.html
no, norwegian construction is not always done by hand in RTW…it would be far too expensive then….
Justin, you will soon be teaching your lad to tie a surgeons knot a.k.a Berlutti knot on them fine shoes!
one day, one day!