My trip to the kingdom of shoes: factory outlets and a world championship

It all started at a birthday dinner last January.

I was seated next to Florent , a friend who is very passionate about the world of tailoring and beautiful shoes.

He was telling me about his upcoming trips and he said:

“—With some friends, I am going to London in March to visit some shoe factory outlets and attend the world shoemaking and patina championship.

— Huh? I don't know this world championship, but it looks great! And I want to get to know the English shoe better, can I come?

— Sure, here are our train times…»

And that same evening, I bought my tickets for a trip dedicated to beautiful shoes. not knowing where I was going .

So here is the story of a trip to England where, among a group of 7 people, 23 pairs of shoes were purchased in three days, the weekend of March 23, 2019.

The aim was to make the most of this trip: four days in total, including two in Northampton devoted solely to visiting factory outlets, then on to London for this famous world championship of patina and shoemaking that I had never heard of.

What about our Barker shoes? They are made about twenty minutes from Northampton, in Earls Barton. They also have a factory shop, but we didn't have time to visit it.

The English shoe is a subject that we had already started to explore through three models:

So I was very happy to go further and discover other brands in more detail!

I joined a happy band of calceophiles who had already done this "trip" a year before.

Among them were:

• Florent, then, behind Sartoriaworld . You have already read it in our columns, since he is the one who wrote our test of J. Fitzpatrick .
• Guillaume, known as " Grizzly of the Pyrenees ", hugely passionate, very educational, rugby player, and (very) happy-go-lucky guy
• Jonathan, known as " Dilettante Paris ", another huge enthusiast, who was the most voracious in his purchases during this trip
• Then there was Pierre-Yves, Pierre, and Raphaël, just as passionate, but unfortunately they don't have an Instagram account.

I'm going to be honest with you, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, I only knew Florent, I don't have shoemaker-level knowledge of shoes, but I'm curious and I like to learn.

So, what did I see in the outlet stores? Where did we go? What did I buy? Who won this championship? I'll tell you everything!

Northampton: the birthplace of English shoes

As a French person, it's very hard to understand what makes Northampton so special. But I'll try to give you a comparison...

Imagine that in France, there were four or five shoe brands equivalent to Weston, at several hundred euros per pair, and sold in the most prestigious boutiques around the world... In short, brands with a global reach.

Then imagine that these brands all manufacture in the same French city…

And imagine that each factory has its own clearance store, for unsold items, for shoes with slight defects, where pairs are sold at -50%.

Inevitably, this place becomes the Mecca of the least shoe enthusiast.

And that's what happened in Northampton. There used to be a lot of English tanneries right here because of the special quality of the water in the area. And as a result, shoe factories were set up around it. Today, the tanneries are gone, but the shoe factories remain.

And among them, we find Alfred Sargent…

Alfred Sargent's Visit

Alfred Sargent is a brand that enjoys good popularity among calceophiles.

I understood that this is a brand that is a bit apart in the English landscape. The shapes are fine, dressed, and one could almost doubt its English DNA.

It's simply beautiful, elegant footwear, sometimes with a bit of creativity. But above all, for something "made in Northampton", the prices are very competitive.

It was Paul, on the right of the photo, who gave us the factory tour, and it was a treat. He is a huge shoe enthusiast, who is inexhaustible for each stage of manufacturing.

For a long time, Alfred Sargent shoes were very little distributed under its own brand, which paradoxically made it very popular with enthusiasts. For information, today, they have a Parisian boutique at 50, rue du bac (Paris 7).

And based on what I've seen, I can see why this brand has gained the sympathy of shoe lovers.

The brand's workshop is now run by a Frenchman. In terms of the visit, ultimately, I was not disoriented since at my humble level, I saw that the production line was very close to what I had seen at Barker.

They have several grades, and the highest, the "hand grade" contains some hand operations. For example, the skins are hand-cut, which allows for a cleaner edge, a detail that Japanese customers love.

His Budapester style is really controversial among fans, and the team I was with finds him very massive, while the Japanese love him.

Always the eternal question of tastes and colors…

Factory Outlet #1: John Lobb

First contact with a shoe factory outlet. The first thing that strikes you is that the entrance is designed to discourage buyers from entering. A hanging flowerpot barely brightens up the entrance.

Prices are around £600. That may sound like a lot, but you have to remember that these are shoes that cost twice as much in stores.

There, they explained to me the Lobb style, which I only vaguely knew, and I could only marvel at the leathers they use, called “museum”.

Coming from Italy, they have a slightly marbled appearance, all in nuances, as if the shoe had been very harmoniously patinated during several years of wear.

I really enjoyed Lobb's creativity, there's color, super cool shapes, variety, and a very elegant style.

Factory Outlet #2: Edward Green

I was looking forward to seeing this factory store (located inside the factory, in a separate room) because I knew very little about this brand, but I knew that it has a manufacturing reputation that is one of the best in the world.

Inside, prices are identical to Lobb's, at around £600 for a pair.

It’s a less exuberant style than Lobb, but still very elegant and dressy.

There, I am explained all the subtleties of several of their flagship models, such as the Gallway or the Dover…

I am taught all the details to look at to check the quality of a shoe costing several hundred euros, the seams, the assembly, in short, it's a treat!

And I will buy my only pair of this trip: a pair of midnight blue indoor moccasins, very summery, unlined and incredibly comfortable, the Polperro .

Its price? £80 instead of £475! With Florent, I looked at the pair in every direction, impossible to find the defect of the pair, it seems to be an end of series.

Raphaël, always very kind towards my entry into very high-end calceophilia, advises me to put a skate on them anyway if I want to wear them outside.

Factory Outlet #3: Crockett & Jones

This was the brand I knew best before coming. And I'm not the only one, because it was by far the busiest factory store, with many Japanese, so happy to come and pay a fraction of the Japanese price for their pair.

Precisely, on the price side, count on £200 or £220 for a pair, so I can tell you that this makes the brand very accessible compared to the 600€ store price.

But at Crockett, there is no fantasy, it remains very classic and very English lines.

However, I'm not buying any pairs, because I don't see anything that wouldn't duplicate what I already have. There are some loafers that I like, but I'm discouraged by the lines that I find quite austere.

In other words, it would have been a treat!

My companions leave with Pembrokes (the iconic grained brogue) and Conistons (the rather casual cap-toe ankle boot).

Factory Outlet #4: Tricker's

Just a few miles from Crockett was the Tricker's factory and its factory store inside.

Florent tells me that it is the oldest shoe factory still in operation.

Little extra: to go to the factory store, you have to cross the entire workshop, it's really nice.

There, we discover a number of large brogues with a so-called "triple welt" stitching and soles that protrude enormously.

You have to like the style, but as Guillaume points out to me, it goes well with the more “rock and roll” side of the brand.

At least there's a real touch and use of color.

And here are the 4 factory stores we did.

I couldn't help but think of the equivalents we have in France: Weston, Corthay, and obviously Aubercy.

By the way, Aubercy is in the same price range as Lobb and Green, but at Aubercy, the Goodyear is hand-sewn (we call it a welt), the one cuts are real one cuts, and — something very rare in ready-to-wear — there are counters at the level of the arch of the foot.

The World Championship in Skating and Bootmaking

After these two days of walking the factory outlets, return to London, and place for this world championship, which is held over one day.

I was super curious to see what "a world championship of patina and shoemaking" organized by the blogs Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob would look like.

This was the second edition in London, so it's a very recent event.

In terms of figures, remember:

• around 1,000 visitors per day
• 10 shoe brands that exhibited
• Fun fact: 90 pairs were sold during the day, for a total of €43,000

It took place just a stone's throw from Jeremyn Street, the street with all the shoe shops. Please note: entry is free.

There were two events: patina and bootmaking.

Given that it is a recent and very "niche" event, it is difficult to measure its impact, but it is clear that for the winners, it is a consecration in the calceophile community, and it allows them to enjoy great visibility.

Patina: long live France!

The test was simple: three "skaters" had five hours to skate a pair of TLB Mallorca brand Oxford shoes.

Then the three pairs were submitted to a jury that deliberated to elect the best patina. The jury looks at the transitions between colors, risk-taking, innovation, etc.

Who says patina says polish, and it was therefore logically the Saphir maintenance brand that sponsored the event.

And it was a Frenchman who won the competition! It was Stéphane Villette, the former colorist of the Corthay house, with a very beautiful patina full of nuances, where dark greens (!) rub shoulders with brown tones.

Bootmaking: a literally unwearable shoe that wins

For this event, around ten shoemakers had to reinterpret a brown brogue.

Among the criteria to be respected, here are some:

• the shoe does not necessarily have to be wearable (I'll come back to that in a moment)
• the shoe must be a brogue, the flowered toe is not obligatory, but there must be the characteristic cut of a brogue
• the shoe must be a left foot in 42
• the shoe must be dark brown, in aniline leather (so no suede or exotic skins)
• the sole must be leather
• the sole must be hand sewn
• the shoe should be lined as if it were going to be worn
• the shoe must not display a logo or distinctive sign of a brand

There were many nationalities represented: France (with Anthony Delos and Christophe Corthay), Japan, Korea, Hungary, etc. It was a real world tour of shoemaking that was offered with these ten pairs presented.

So who won?

And it's the shoemaker from the prestigious house of Gaziano & Girling, namely a very, very fine Richelieu , quite spectacular when you have it in your hand.

What makes me doubtful is that it is a shoe that you can't wear that won the prize. Of course, the work behind it is absolutely impressive: EVERYTHING was done by hand, with no machine, and the fineness of the stitching is surreal.

But still, a shoe is made to be worn! Except that in this case, it was not a criterion for victory.

My fellow travelers told me that because of this very narrow shape, the work was all the more difficult.

So it was with this perplexed thought that I left the place, having attended my very first World Patina and Bootmaking Championship!

For the more curious, Shoegazing has published a very long report , full of photos (you can even see me in some of them!).

The final word

Finally, I would like to end on a more personal note: I sometimes hear that the sartorial milieu is "snobbish" and cryptic. Well, I experienced the complete opposite, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all this joyful group during these four days of tripping.

They answered my many questions with pedagogy, and made sure that I understood each pair that I had in my hands (or on my foot). I was in front of very passionate people who were delighted to pass on their knowledge.

I am very grateful to have had such a four-day crash course on the greatest English houses.

For me, the sartorial universe is this: passionate people, who want to explain, share, and obviously (very) hedonistic when it comes to good convivial food, a good wine, or even a good cigar! (don't panic if you have no idea how to smoke and enjoy it, we'll explain).

And I was very touched that in front of the Arc'teryx London flagship, filled with Gore-Tex, Guillaume came up to me and said "Benoît, now it's your turn to explain your world to us and show us the pieces to know". What a pleasure to have had such open-mindedness in front of me.

Really, a huge thank you to them, and I only have one desire: to accompany them on their next sartorial journeys.

Note: Florent has also just published his report on his (excellent) blog.