International Finance Magazine Jan - Mar 2015

Page 133

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131 Dimitri Bottier

have your shoes made from: Dimitri Bottier (Gomez), France Considered to be one of the most talented bespoke shoemakers

in the world, Dimitri Bottier (Gomez) works out of the Crockett & Jones boutique in Paris. With access to rare hides from the best tanneries, his designs

Berluti shoes

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famous Lobb customers. The story of bespoke footwear is as fascinating as the history of the world. And with time, the mastery behind the craft has only improved. And while ready to wear shoes inundate markets across the globe, a handful of craftsmen continue to make a pair of shoes, by hand, painstakingly giving form to an idea that can only be compared to a piece of art. However, you should be willing to pay for it, and how, because a pair of bespoke shoes can cost you anything from £600 upwards. If you have the patience, and the money, to wait for that perfect pair, here are some stores across the globe you ought to

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n the 1960s, American singer/actor Dean Martin walked into a Berluti store on Rule Marbeuf in Paris with his friend, Frank Sinatra, in tow. He was a regular and wanted Sinatra to get a pair of handmade Berlutis as well. Sinatra was informed that he’d have to wait for a year till his shoes were ready. The My Way singer was, of course, not willing to wait that long and walked away with a pair of loafers from one of the first off-theshelf collections that Talbinio Berluti had designed a few years earlier. While on Martin and Sinatra, the two were famous as patrons to another brand – the British John Lobb. The founder John Lobb (1829-1895) was known for his shoemaking skills and was the holder of a Royal Warrant as bootmaker to Edward, Prince of Wales. And it was during his time that Lobb shoes begun to be known as a symbol of elegance. And while over the years John Lobb began to design ready-to-wear shoes, the family owned store at St James Street, London, continues to make shoes only by hand and are known to make only one pair at a time. Diana Spencer, Andy Warhol, Louis Mountbatten, Laurence Olivier, Duke Wellington, and David Niven were some of the

Jan Jan -- Mar Mar 2015 2015 International International Finance Finance Magazine Magazine


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International Finance Magazine Jan - Mar 2015 by International Finance - Issuu