I have a love/hate relationship with Santoni. I don’t really hate them, they are actually very nice people who treated me very kindly when I went to visit their factory some years back. But I do love what they can do, which is what they do least of i.e. their Goodyear welted line. They seriously have the potential to be one of the greatest factories in Italy, doing shoes that stack up against any John Lobb, any G&G or any other British maker for that matter. But instead they don’t. They make the shoes that give the best ROI (their blake stitched stuff that they can churn out quickly). Now, I can’t really knock them as a business, because they are brilliant at that –having grown tremendously in the last 10 years– only that I wish that I saw more of their goodyear line. I remember the first time that I had seen their goodyear line (before ever coming to Europe) and I thought it was the best shoe ever. The sole was beautiful, the leather was of extremely good quality and the finishing details were as clean as ever. But then after that shoe, I never saw another one again, only in pictures (and very rare at that). Now I have a good feeling why they don’t make more of them (high costs, harder to sell etc) but I just wish that they did, because I think that they would be recognized as every bit as good as their competition…..
you are absolutely right Justin, when they want to they make fantastic Goodyear welted shoes. I have two pairs of them that I did purchase at the Upper Shoes store in Lyon (France). Both pairs were sold as “limited editions” which in other words means not current ! If you manage to find a pair somewhere, such as the Moscow store, the price is similar to the british competitors.
Hi Justin, this is my first visit to your page, and I want to tell you that yesterday I found and bought a pair of santoni’s goodyear black lace up in sale for about USD 300!! In a store in Bogotá Colombia, I couldnt believe that
what a deal!! Well done. I wish that I was in Bogota right now, eating empanadas and sancocho and drinking aguardiente!
Dear Shoe Snob, so if I can believe you: I can get a pair of Santonis, Goodyear welted sole, for 300 euro, which is on offer from the regular price of Euro 489 Still a lot of money, but I get the impression they’re worth it?
Hello Sir, I appreciate your snobbery;)! I do have like ten pairs of Santoni goodyears and a dozen more Blake Santonis. In the current years they kept coming out with the Goodyear stuff, even this winter collection is at least covered by 20 percent Goodyear. Also the Norvegese stitching had come up, I do have a couple of fur lined Santoni winter Boots, check them out, they are great as well! Keep up the good work.