A shoe you can take apart.

LASTWORK started with a complaint. A good pair of shoes had come apart at the sole after two winters, and the shop that sold them explained, politely, that they were not built to be repaired. The glue was the construction. There was nothing underneath it to rebuild.

So we went the other way. Every pair we make is shaped on a wooden last and Goodyear welted — a strip of leather stitched around the join between the upper and the sole. It costs more, it takes longer, and it is the only reason a cobbler can cut the old sole away and stitch a new one on without touching the rest of the shoe.

What we leave off

No logo on the quarter. No contrast stitching to make the work look busier than it is. No seasonal colour that will date the pair by next year. What is left is the leather, the shape of the last, and the stitch — which is most of what decides whether you still want the shoes in five years.

Where they are made

In a workshop of eleven people. Lasting and welting are done by hand; the finishing machines do what hands cannot do evenly. A pair takes about three weeks to move through the bench, most of which is the leather resting between operations.