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Gaz
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Bill, great idea but no shoe review is complete without Hidetaka Fukaya

So here is a repost of my visit to Hidetaka Fukaya

The entrance of Hidetaka's shop is down a little lane directly opposite the rear exit of a restaurant.

Not where you expect to find a cobbler.

But not just any cobbler.  Hidetaka Fukaya is the only Japanese cobbler in Firenze who produces handmade shoes.  He works with one assistant and his wife runs the shop.

I consider Hidetaka the Kari Voutelainen of shoe makers.

Let me just say, his shoes are works of art.

He only offers a made to measure service.  It takes about six months for him to complete a pair.  An initial fitting is required for Hidetaka to take measurement of your feet.  A wooden mould, called the last, is then handcrafted by Hidetaka.  He is so precise that he painstakingly uses shards of glass to shave off the wood when making the last.  A second fitting is required after a month.  If all is good then he makes the shoes.  If not a third fitting is required three months later.

Allow me to share with you some of his impressive work.

A conservative looking pair of Oxfords. Think of this as the Simplicity of the shoe world.  His hand stitching is phenomenal (think hand mirror polish).

Another conservative looking pair.

Chukka boots made from buffalo.  This is one of my favourites of his shoes.

A pair of oxford made from alligator.  His selection of the hide for this is just perfect as he has achieved very nice symmetry in the scale pattern, especially at the toe.

A pair of whole cut oxfords (meaning the entire shoe other than the tongue is made from one piece of hide) made from iguana. Absolutely stunning.

Something a little different, the shoe is constructed to be off center.

Now next to the iguana is a pair of seemingly simple brown wing tipped oxfords.

Upon closer inspection, they are made from Metta Catherina reindeer hide.

This is an amazing pair of shoes.  A pair will set you back 7,000 Euro.

Then there are these weird hides.

This is just spectacular.

And here is a three part documentary on Hidetaka

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