The London Lounge

Not the NY Times Men's fashion supplement has that much to offer but I was stunned to see the item on Berlutti making ready to wear shoes and selling them at Barney's.

The Berluttis I have seen are uniformly magnificent. But I assumed that they did not make ready to wear shoes because the woman who runs it is notoriously strict and opinionated. Arnault owns them, so maybe that's where this all comes from.

All that is besides the point, has anyone bought a pair of these shoes? And would you mind giving me your opinion of them?

I've never bought Berluti RTW, but I did recently see them at Barney's. I was extremely disappointed. Except for a couple of Norwegian-constructed shoes, they were all Blake-constructed were not even the best Blake shoes that I've seen. What was more disturbing to me, though, was that they really did not have the trademark Berluti finish. I believe that I've read that the Paris shop has staff to apply the finish for shoes purchased there, but Barney's certainly doesn't. Without the finish, they're just another brand of hopelessly overpriced designer shoes (most models $1150 and up at Barney's).

The Paris Berluti shop began selling RTW shoes at least ten years ago. I used to know who made them but can't remember. In any case, I heard it from bengal-stripe, who may chime in. They also have a freestanding shop in London that sells the RTW models. The samples in both stores have the trademark finish. I can't imagine a pair of Berlutis without it; and I'm with jcusey in not seeing the point.

In the abstract, I find the designs for the most part too "advanced": either too angular, too pointy, or too clunky and not really helpful to large feet. But when they get something right, the results can be magnificent. See, for instance, the third and fourth pictures on this thread:

http://66.170.193.77/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonbo ... =9428;st=0

I think that Berluti RTW is made by Stefanobi.

In 1993 did the LVMH group acquire a rather sleepy Parisian bespoke shoemaker whose main claim to fame until then, had been pearl-studded pumps for Emperor Bokhassa’s coronation.

Maybe the house sold a ready-to-wear line prior to ‘93, maybe not; but under LVMH’s management the brand expanded enormously and was heavily promoted. The ready-to-wear shoes are made by StefanoBi (LVMH owned, basically the maker of all the different shoe lines).

Of course there is a lot of bull**** in the promotion of the product: leathers get bleached by the moonlight, polishing must be done with Dom Perignon (another LVMH product). But they have managed to make men’s shoes fun, whimsical and desirable fashion items, just like Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo have done for women’s shoes. The majority of Berluti shoes are fashion items and are probably not intended to last for longer than a few years. They are rather like Marmite (a very acquired taste), which people either love or hate. The majority of models in made in very thin “Venezia” leather and additionally are wholecuts, so they are extremely prone to creasing when worn. Most designs are Blake stitched (which is the standard construction method in Italy). On the other hand, Venezia leather (I suppose due to the tanning process) can be striped, have the colour change and can take elaborate antiquing. I agree with John Cusey, a Berluti franchise (like Barney’s) without the staff to perform these tasks at customer’s request is a waste of (selling) space.

I am at times quite in awe of Berluti’s inventiveness and whimsy, but do I desire them? Probably not.

Rolf

bengal-stripe wrote: Of course there is a lot of bull**** in the promotion of the product: leathers get bleached by the moonlight, polishing must be done with Dom Perignon (another LVMH product).

You mean that this isn't true? Please, Rolf, say that you're just kidding!

I am at times quite in awe of Berluti’s inventiveness and whimsy, but do I desire them? Probably not.

I genuinely admire Berluti's three-eyelet wholecut and their one-eyelet blucher, and the pictures that I've seen of the finish that they can put on these shoes are simply wonderful. However, ultimately, I agree with you: I would gladly accept the shoes as a gift, but I would rather take my shoe-buying money elsewhere.