Left: The pair Mr. Osashige is wearing is "PORTMAN"; Right: Mr. Matsuda's shoes are "PHILIP II"

The Joy and Difficulty of Bespoke

Tomoki MatsudaBy the way, how many pairs of John Lobb shoes have you owned over the years?

Osashige RiA total of 10 pairs. The John Lobb shoes I'm wearing today are ready-to-wear, bought about four years ago. I bought a lot when this last first appeared. This one has a relatively long nose. I had actually considered wearing the bespoke side-lace shoes I featured in the OPENERS series, but these ready-to-wear ones had a longer nose (laughs). I thought I had made the side-lace ones long too, but perhaps because this is a later series, it reflects the times more.

MatsudaIt's truly an honor to have been featured in the series. Mr. Osashige, you seem to order bespoke shoes frequently, not just from John Lobb, correct?

OsashigeYes. The best thing about bespoke is that they make shoes exactly as I envision them. But, for example, if I asked them now to 'make them this long and pointed,' John Lobb has a firm policy, so they wouldn't listen, would they? (laughs)

MatsudaOh no, that's not true at all (laughs).

OsashigeOf course, from a craftsman's perspective, my requests are unorthodox. They have a culture of wearing shoes until they sleep, so I understand that prioritizing comfort is natural. But I want that fine line, slim and long, yet without compromising comfort. However, bespoke is a negotiation of mutual ideals, so if one party doesn't yield, it falls apart (laughs).

MatsudaI believe the craftsman who measured your feet, Mr. Osashige, was Philippe Atienza. Currently, a veteran craftsman named François Adninni has taken over, and he visited Japan in February this year. Philippe had a strong vision for his own style, which is part of why customers trusted him. However, François, while maintaining the John Lobb essence, listens very carefully to customer requests, so I believe he can accommodate your desires as well (laughs).

New Approaches to Bespoke

MatsudaSpeaking of which, when you had your John Lobb bespoke shoes made, were they fitted using a 'skeleton' shoe for the trial fitting?

OsashigeNo, they were made of leather.

MatsudaWe now use clear urethane material to create a trial fitting shoe first. Because it's transparent, we can clearly see how your toes are positioned inside. We mark the areas that are pressing or floating directly with a pen and then incorporate that feedback.

While the shoemaking methods adhere to tradition, we are adopting innovative techniques like this.

OsashigeWow, I've never seen this before, but it's a good method.

Transparent sample for trial fitting

—Looking at the bespoke sample

OsashigeThe waist on the bespoke sample here is quite sharply cinched. If I were to order bespoke now, could they cinch it this much?

MatsudaYes, that's possible.

OsashigeGood. Regarding comfort, I never complain, so would an order like 'extend the toe allowance further' be impossible (laughs)?

MatsudaWe can accept it if you understand the implications (laughs).

OsashigeIs that so? That's good. Actually, I hadn't commissioned bespoke shoes for a while because often the craftsman's intentions outweighed the customer's requests, and I ended up giving up, thinking I wouldn't get what I wanted.

When Tom Ford, for Sergio Rossi, created something resembling old bespoke shoes through a pattern order, he made the waist extremely narrow and long, and in return, extended the upper dimensions. I own that pair, and they are incredibly comfortable. So, I believe it's not impossible to achieve both form and comfort.

MatsudaDo you still have those shoes?

OsashigeI do, but I can't possibly bring them here, can I?

MatsudaNot at all. While we don't accept direct imitations of designs, if you could bring the shoes, we would be delighted to replicate the fit precisely. In some cases, our craftsmen may even take them back to the atelier in Paris.

OsashigeThey'll do that? Then it's fine (laughs). Let's definitely make a pair next time.

MatsudaThank you. I will also discuss this thoroughly with François.