The pair ready to sail for many years

They are finally here.

Yes, I'm talking about our first boat shoes . I know you're waiting for them, given the number of questions we've received about them:

It’s true that we looked for it a bit too because we’ve been showing them on our shoots for two months without talking about them. 🤫

I am very happy to present these commando sole boat shoes to you, being a fan of this shape myself.

I've had them since 2020 and I wear them a lot. They appear in many of my silhouettes. Better still, they add a good pinch of style. Their shape changes from what we're used to seeing, but not to the point where it stands out. Simply put, they have something extra.

And that's what I think appealed to you about this pair: this side that is both differentiating and stylistically accessible.

Our interpretation of a fall-winter boat shoe

Over the seasons, we have explored different forms of shoes in our collection: sneakers, derbies, boots, moccasins and even espadrilles.

Our product team wanted to offer you something else and thought of the boat. But not the one you imagine, in smooth leather and with a light, thin sole.

For the cold season, you need something more robust and resistant to bad weather. Hence the approach of equipping it with oily leather and a notched commando sole.

Suddenly, the shoe takes a step up in terms of style : it becomes more imposing, material and finds itself prepared for the capricious weather.

A water-repellent oily English suede leather, robust and ready to patina

The leather comes from the English tannery Charles Steads , which has been around for over 100 years and specializes in strong leathers.

More specifically, it comes from their Waxy Commander line. For the record, it is a leather ordered in the 90s by Doc Martens from Steads, because the brand wanted a leather that would withstand intensive wear while being resistant to London's weather.

This leather is suede and oily : it is suede so you have on one side a slightly downy appearance with light hairs that stand out on the surface. But it is also a fatty leather, which has therefore been enriched with fat during tanning. This grease allows the leather to be more resistant and to repel water.

Steads adds something extra, its “ one more thing ”: a specific tanning which causes the leather to shrink by 25%, which makes it denser and therefore even more water resistant.

It is therefore a leather with a high patina potential , which will darken or lighten depending on your ports and where it creases.

All you have to do is wear these shoes again and again, whether it's windy, rainy or snowy, so that they reveal their full potential.

An all-terrain Vibram sole

Where do you go to find a good sole? At Vibram, of course.

An Italian family business created in 1936, Vibram was the first to produce vulcanized rubber soles. The company specializes in making reliable, robust and grippy soles for trail running, mountaineering, sports or the world of work (firefighters, military, construction workers).

Over the decades, Vibram has gained reputation and its soles are now used in shoes intended for urban use.

We chose a studded sole from the Gumlite range which has the particularity of being lighter than classic rubber while being very resistant.

It is therefore a durable sole, very grippy, light and very comfortable with soft cushioning.

Visually, this Vibram offers a lot of character to the pair , which clearly differentiates it from a traditional boat shoe.

Details that are not

The charm of this shoe also lies in the attention we pay to the small details which help to give it its soul, its singularity.

Leather lace

As on traditional boat shoes, you will find a leather lace here.

Yes, I said “a” shoelace and not “some” shoelaces. Here you have a lace that goes all the way around the shoe.

On the one hand, you have its slightly different visual appearance, with the visible lace around the ankle. And on the other hand, when you tighten the shoe, the ankle also tightens, ensuring better support for the foot.

For the record, this lace was originally placed like this for practical reasons : it allowed sailors to tighten the shoe on their ankle as the leather relaxed with the water.

Grosgrain eyelets

Small element that you may not have seen: the four eyelets at the front as well as the eyelet at the back are in grosgrain.

It’s the little touch of technicality dear to our co-founder Benoît which adds another “little something” to this pair:

Hand stitched

We finish in style with the presence of hand stitching in two places on this shoe:

• On the seams of the board, at the front
• On the seams at the heel, at the back

Shoes to wear in all your looks

Let's talk a little, let's talk style.

These boat shoes fit naturally with many styles: casual, casual chic, workwear or streetwear.

They replace derbies very advantageously , especially with jeans and chinos thanks to their slightly more workwear appearance. In a sense, we could almost say that it is the new derby , in line with the new suits that we recently told you about.

Besides, these boats would go very well with our Soncino and Bergamo sets. :)

In terms of color combinations, wear them with beige, blue, green, white or gray for example. There is plenty to do !

Here are four examples of outfits in different styles where these shoes easily find their place: