This post is five years in the making. Given the length of the process and the depth in which I wish to dive, I will be dividing this post into two parts. The first part will discuss the process until delivery. The second part will discuss the final shoes.
As a caveat, the process I went through may not be the same for you if you start the process now. Note that when I first started this journey, Winson's bespoke program was still in its infancy. And I was one of the first (perhaps joint second with Jeremiah) customers to commission a bespoke pair.
While I try my best to also give an illustration of how the process will be done now, this post will primarily describe the process I went through. Timelines may vary. Of course, for more clarity and most up-to-date information, please contact Winson directly.
So let me take you through the journey. But first, let me take you to Northampton in 2019.
I. Purchasing the Upper
It was a typical shoe factory-focused trip, but this time I added a visit to A&A Crack to my itinerary. A&A Crack is a Northampton-based leather supplier, which supplies leather to RTW factories and bespoke workshops.
I should note that their premise in Northampton isn't a shop per se; it's a storage facility where people store, cut up, and deliver leathers all over the world. So, always contact them ahead of time before a visit. While there, Tony Crack very kindly showed us around.
They have all kinds of leathers, from museum calf, wild deer, shell cordovan, to exotics. They even had an original Russian Reindeer from 1786, which they kindly showed me (below). Aside from getting a whole hide for this bespoke pair, I also ended up getting some alligator strips and a cut of Horween shell cordovan (which was subsequently turned into straps and a wallet -- see here).
After much meandering and contemplating, I elected to get a museum calf by Italian tanner Conceria Zonta (more details on the leather here) in a dark red finish, which Tony called "claret."
The leather is tanned for formal footwear, so it is quite dense and shiny. Against a large window, the leather almost looked white. What differentiates this leather from most calf leather is obviously the museum effect, which gives a nice visual interest to a shoe.
Obviously, if you want to make a bespoke pair, you need not buy the uppers yourself. Even if you wanted a museum calf, Winson usually has a few on stock from Conceria Ilcea (although, when I bought mine, Winson didn't have any in dark red).
II. Getting Fitted and Picking the Model
At the end of 2019, I met up with Emil in Bandung. He travels to Jakarta from time to time, but I made the trip to Bandung as I also wanted to visit his workshop.
A lot of things were measured. Not just the length and width of my feet. But also the height of my instep, the height of my arch, and overall girth of my feet. Both feet were measured as some people may have slight differences between their two feet.
The model I picked was an asymmetric captoe balmoral with a custom medallion and broguing. It's asymmetric because the line on the outside of the shoe wraps around the back heel and finishes down at the waist. So, it's a balmoral on the outside, but a regular captoe on the inside with a heel counter.
III. Fitting Shoes
In February 2020, Emil was in Jakarta and I had the first chance to see the shoes take shape. We're still quite far off from the final shoe.
Emil made fitting shoes, which were made for the express purpose of being cut up such that he can see how my feet fit inside the shoes. He then made some markings on the shoes to note where and to what extent the last needed to be revised.
The big change here was that the area behind my fingers were too voluminous and the inside heel a bit tight.
IV. Trial Shoes
At this time, we were at the height of Covid, so timelines were all over the place and it was difficult for me to meet with Emil. Prior to making the final shoes, Emil made trial shoes.
The trial shoes are made after the revisions on the last have been implemented based on the fitting shoes. They're cemented and made of cheaper leather uppers, similar to the fitting shoes. Dissimilar to the fitting shoes, however, the trial shoes are not made to be cut up. Instead, they're made to be worn for a long-ish period of time to better ascertain the fit.
Trial shoes will never feel and wear the same as the final shoes. The uppers may be thinner and the soles may be more flexible as there is no cork filling. Yet, for the same reason, the soles may be harder due to less cushioning, which would have been provided by the cork. But this is the next best thing to see how the final shoes would fit, short of actually making the final shoes.
Emil ended up making two trial shoes for me because the first trial shoes were off by a lot, both style- and fit-wise. The toe was too long and my pinky and inner heel felt tight. The second trial shoes fit way better, and I ended up wearing them for a few months, if not a year or so.
V. Final Shoes
It was around January 2023 when Emil informed me that the shoes are completed. "Hot. Gila. Piece of art," is what I said to Emil after he sent me pictures of the finished shoes.
And the rest... is in part 2.
Stay tuned for part 2 where I will dive into the final shoes, the full details, the fit, and the price.
Written by: Nikki Krisadtyo
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