March 08, 2018
Hiro Yanagimachi Trunk Show Deliveries
Currently en route to a number of lucky customers are these shoes from Hiro Yanagimachi. The images below show a number orders made while Hiro-san visited our store for a Trunk Show in September.
It's a pleasure to have Hiro (Konomi & Kichiro too) in our store as the wonderful shoes are always backed up by big smiles and insightful conversation.
In addition to receiving the shoes, first-time customers receive a personal note from Hiro himself, as an introduction to his philosophy and a guide to "breaking in" his shoes.
He has been kind enough to allow us to feature this excerpt from the note:
"Bespoke shoes are based on the client’s feet. As such, the fit of the shoe is (obviously) different from ready to wear shoes made on more generalised lasts. The shoe’s upper fits the client’s foot tightly, without any unnecessary space between the surface of the foot and upper itself. This means that the client is able to feel the regular changes in the foot’s condition. This is fed back to the client via the fit and feel of his bespoke shoes. Conversely, these changes are far less noticeable in a ready to wear shoe. It is, therefore, that bespoke shoes can tell us the condition of our feet...
- The foot changes shape by sitting, standing, walking etc. Therefore, the dimensions of the foot change depending on the wearer’s activity.
- The foot also becomes wider/narrower depending on the condition of the foot.
- In many cases swelling occurs; in the evening, after long flight, after drinking alcohol and/or eating salty food.
- It has been known for people’s feet to change shape from summer to winter (and vice versa) without a change in weight.
People who are new to bespoke may find this process unusual. But the fact remains that the human foot is always changing. In addition, the shoes themselves go through several changes during the break in period."
