Guild of Crafts - Japan

Guild of Crafts, Asakusa (Japan) is one of the bespoke shoemaking houses which needs to be mentioned when naming the bespoke shoe industry of Japan. The Guild was established in 1996 in Asakusa, the heart of Japanese shoemaking region, by master shoemaker Chihiro Yamaguchi. 

In 1999, The Guild founded "Saruwaka Footwear College" and in 2006 the Guild opened flag shops in Ginza and Tokyo offering bespoke and made to order foot wear.

Enjoy and have a pleasant weekend.

Master Chihiro Yamaguchi in person

The Guild works with classical shoe styles, then add a modern twist to some of the creations whilst paying great respect, attention to the details, add massive passion and dedication to the art of shoemaking.  The results can be seen below at the depicted creations. 

Very distinctive side strapped single monk, I like the design of this monk. It is a monk I would like to add to my footwear arsenal.

A two toned Balmoral boot with a modern twist, stitched cap toe, chisel square toe last

 A Spat boot in two tones, rounded last

Diamond peaked cap toe side gusset in three tones

Peaked cap toe, suede side gusset...hmmmm....

Inner side laced oxford with a monogram

Seamless whole cut Oxford

 Another whole cut Oxford 

Classical stitched cap toe Oxford with darkened cap toe, square chisel last

A U winged Adelaide Oxford with a medallion, chisel square toe last

A very interesting hide samples, I think Ostrich leg and calf leather Oxford with very interesting brogue on the cap toe, round toe last.

Women's shoe designs by the Guild.

 A sports car shoe in pure leather, single tier. 

Photos sourced from Guild of Crafts and Diane Pernet Typepad

The 337 Last in various designs

Spring is supposed to be here but is it still very cold and according to the weather forecast, the Winter will still have a grip on us for another week or so. Last weekend and partially this weekend I was polishing my shoes and getting the Winter stock ready for storage and the Spring/Summer stock to be taken out. To my surprise I realised that I have a number of shoes on the 337 last (Crockett & Jones) from three different English shoemakers. The 337 Last is a soft square chisel toe from the Crockett & Jones Hand grade collection.

So I had to do a line up of these shoes, all in the 337 last which was designed by Master Dimitri Gomez for Crockett and Jones. However GJ Cleverley & WS Foster are producing shoes based on the 337 last.  

The 337 Last "usual suspect" line up. From the top, a semi brogue punched cap toe in brown buckskin suede, from GJ Cleverley. Black punched cap toe side gusset ("Jack") from GJ Cleverley. Antique chestnut punched cap toe oxford ("Westbury") from WS Foster and Son. Black stitched cap toe oxford ("Audley") from Crockett and Jones, burgundy punched cap toe side gusset ("Jack") from GJ Cleverley and lastly tan full brogue oxford ("Clifford") from Crockett & Jones. You may remember the Clifford from here.

Not included in the 337 line up below is the "Avebury" Balmoral boot from CJ and the "Thornham" full brogue from WS Foster both in antique chestnut.

 All photos sourced from myself.

Japanese Bespoke Shoemaker (Clematis Ginza)

On my journey of finding more bespoke shoemakers, I found Clematis Ginza, another Japanese Bespoke shoemaker. At first I thought it was about the plant "Clematis", could not see any connection to shoemaking.
From the looks Clematis-Ginza produces  well designed, elegant and stylish shoes that are timeless and classic. The shoes are European inspired, probably English shoemakers have left their mark on Clematis-Ginza, but I maybe mistaken. Anyway...
Look at the below shoes and judge for yourself.

Two toned balmoral boot

 Brogued side gusset

 Brogued side gusset sole

 Whole cut side gusset in suede

 Two toned strapped loafer

 Whole cut oxford 

 Winged full brogue

 Sole of the winged full brogue

All pictures sourced from Clematis Ginza