I had the pleasure of spending an evening with Mr. Landry Lacour of Bespoke Patina, last week for what proved to be a very interesting evening in fine food and captivating discussion. Landry happened to be in town (as he gives courses in Patina) and since we have been in contact for a few years now and have also met a few times, decided to have a catch up to see what was both going on in each other’s worlds. Now I must start by saying that Landry is one of those captivating fellows that is always smiling and you can tell immediately that passion is running through every square inch of his body. I would dare say that he might just love patina more than I do shoes….as crazy as that sounds! And that is what makes his aspirations sound believable and even more so, achievable!
Before the internet, learning a craft such as shoemaking or patina or almost any type of hand crafted art was next to impossible without teaching yourself. In cultures that weren’t known for doing these things, how could one simply take a trip to Italy (or the likes) to seek out a bespoke shoemaker for the chance to get a door slammed in their face? They couldn’t. So instead the arts started to fade a little bit. And even worse, is that not long ago, artists of certain trades were far more reluctant to share their knowledge. It’s like they wanted to keep it the world’s best secret, so that it would die with them. Thankfully, the world is changing and knowledge is far more obtainable and now the arts are back on the up and up.
Patina has sort of been like this too. Sure, you can go to Berluti to train up, but I bet that the greats at the top would only teach you the basics for you to then learn the rest for yourself. Any special ability that they had, they would of course keep to themselves (this may not be 100% true at Berluti, but I know that it was at some other place of which I won’t mention). Landry Lacour is one of those guys that taught himself. He saw what Berluti was doing, he saw what Corthay was doing and strove to do better by creating patina’s that were more than just bi-colored. He tells me that he uses between 5-7 colors to create each patina (at least). And not only does he want to become the name that is synonymous with idea of Patina, but also the one that spreads it to the world.
Landry told me that his grand plan (of which is already in effect) is to start leasing out the name of Bespoke Patina (his company) in the hopes to create hubs around the world that offer the patina service. He is starting this by offering private courses to individuals, teaching them the different techniques of patina, including that of Berluti and Corthay as well as his own. His courses seem to be keeping him quite busy as he tells me that one week he is in London, the next Moscow and the one after I can’t remember to be honest. He offers the student the chance to be apart of the Bespoke Patina name or if the student chooses, to go at it on his own. There is no pressure but of course, Landry is attempting to build a world wide team. It’s a great ambition to have and I am excited about his execution of it. And of course, in the meanwhile, he is still offering personal patina service to whomever desires his abilities.
It is always nice to engage with like minded individuals whom aspire to world wide achievements and I wish Landry the absolute best with it all!!
To enquire further, please contact Landry on his Facebook page where he does most of his business from. Found below:
I would so much like to know how to make such a patina with several layers and a wonderful, differentiated shoe coming out. Still, also after this article, you only write about what the internet can achieve, and not HOW TO make a patina. I liked your post with your own shoes that you colored, but it was only that you highlighted the brogue, and all in all you only applied two colors with regular boundaries. Am I missing anything here? I also have googled patina several times and all I come up with are videos, where someone starts to paint a shoe with a brush in one only color, like red, and you do not see the certainly difficult process AFTER THAT, of applying different layers in a good way. I want to KNOW HOW. I do not want to know any more, how wonderful others can do and not tell me, how.
So I have found a first Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOXv_c1vYcM
giving basic but also very important information, that you absolutely need:
1, Your not only remove the old polishing and part of the coloring with ACETONE; but, also you remove parts of the new dye you have applied to get such an aging look.
2, Some of the color effects are not done with dye (I always thought that would be very difficult), but your first, principal dye layers that gave the desired aesthetic a direction, you let dry for 24 hours. Only than you apply the layers of wax polish (as described in the shoe polish tutorial by Justin), and THEY (the layers( are in different colors! Obviously, this is how to get a depth of different colors!
If anybody has more information and / or videos, please answer here.
Yours Giorgio
Hi Giorgio, thanks for the share. Can you please provide here the link for the video? I would also like to learn. Thanks!
giorgio, I don’t know how to do one which is why I have not shared it, plain and simple. If I knew I would have already made the video, trust me
Hi Giorgio …I am a big fan of patinas..I recently bought 3 pairs ..now I am planning to get patina customed from a veteran ..I wanted to know that which leather is the best for patina shine …is it calf leather or nappa…if any other please let me know
Regards
Rick