Shoe patina at Gaziano & Girling
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:49 pm
Earlier this month, while in London, I had the opportunity to drop by the Gaziano & Girling shop on Savile Road. My intentions were to take advantage of the friendliest exchange rate that we have had in a long time (and on top of the substantial 20% price differential that non EU shoppers usually enjoy).
While I didn´t fulfill my expectations in that sense (depending on the shoe last, they don´t carry RTW in my true size which would have pushed me to the made-to-order field, but that´s another story), I had the chance to learn about their “patina service”. In short: G&G now provides a service to personalize your pair of shoes (RTW or made to order) with a hand-applied color patina specially selected by you. Thomas, one of the resident artisans is in charge. Several basic colors are available.
I don´t want to sound like a marketing ad, but overall, the results I saw were admirable. Granted that some colors are a bit over the top for my taste, but some are subdued and add real character to the shoe. I don´t think this patina service is devised as a shortcut to achieving in an hour the look that a good pair of shoes would display after years of thoughtful polishing. That would be (and look) fake. It´s more the opportunity of working up from a pale, flat or not so interesting colored leather to something more attractive. I had seen this kind of patina used by a few shoemakers in France and Italy but never in the UK houses.
While I didn´t fulfill my expectations in that sense (depending on the shoe last, they don´t carry RTW in my true size which would have pushed me to the made-to-order field, but that´s another story), I had the chance to learn about their “patina service”. In short: G&G now provides a service to personalize your pair of shoes (RTW or made to order) with a hand-applied color patina specially selected by you. Thomas, one of the resident artisans is in charge. Several basic colors are available.
I don´t want to sound like a marketing ad, but overall, the results I saw were admirable. Granted that some colors are a bit over the top for my taste, but some are subdued and add real character to the shoe. I don´t think this patina service is devised as a shortcut to achieving in an hour the look that a good pair of shoes would display after years of thoughtful polishing. That would be (and look) fake. It´s more the opportunity of working up from a pale, flat or not so interesting colored leather to something more attractive. I had seen this kind of patina used by a few shoemakers in France and Italy but never in the UK houses.
