“They built these giant machines,
while incredibly dangerous to the
operator, essentially completed a task in
creating a shoe. This skiving machine
is maybe from 1910; this other is from
around the 40’s. Interchangeable parts
for the most part. It has changed
slightly, and these machines are safer,
but they essentially still do the same
exact thing they did at their invention.
“By comparison, there are some
places where I make choices for
modern stuff where I can. I have hand
sewing thread, and it is nylon. I choose
it because it is nylon. It doesn’t break as
much, doesn’t rot. I choose it because I
may be making a shoe with a style of
another time, I want to make the best
quality shoes today. If they had nylon
back then, they’d have used nylon. So,
I’m not a purist in that sense. That said,
there are places where the old way is
better.
His shoes start at $1,200. Really, the
cost is in his time and skills; prices of
raw materials are an afterthought. Jeff
uses only the finest vegetable tanned
leathers from Italy. He’s been working
with a family-owned tannery there and
uses almost exclusively their