Compliments to Mr. Delos on a wonderful pair of shoes. Nice work. We will have to team up and pay him a visit...ok?
Michael
Anthony Delos
We're on.
FYI, Delos refurbished an old pair of bespoke Maxwells for me (no, they were not bespoke for me as my guess is my parents were children at the time they were made, but they fit very well, thank you very much). I pick them up Tuesday...
FYI, Delos refurbished an old pair of bespoke Maxwells for me (no, they were not bespoke for me as my guess is my parents were children at the time they were made, but they fit very well, thank you very much). I pick them up Tuesday...
Young Mr. Delos is a very refreshing and talented artisan we are going to have to keep our eyes on for awhile. He looks like a future CAP candidate for sure.
RJ and visited his shop today. Pictorial essay, commentary to follow.
RJ and visited his shop today. Pictorial essay, commentary to follow.
bespoke Roller Blades??? 
he has a mischevious face-I like him
[Cross-posted from main forum:]
Well, getting us back together took almost as much legal wrangling and negotiation as those Abba reunions that always fizzle out, but in the end Alden and I teamed up on Delos' picturesque street on Montmartre to visit Delos.
I've written about my personal experiences with Anthony in the shoe subforum (q.v.). Thus perhaps my comments here should be of a general nature.
M. Delos trained as a Compagnon du Devoir, which is a French group/system for artisans to train and apprentice in various specialized trades, from bottier to master roofer. As such, he learned his trade all over France, as well as in Cologne, working under various cobblers and bootmakers. Probably of greatest salience to the members of the forum is the time he spent at Lobb Paris, both in the bespoke shop (pre-renovation) in rue Boissy d’Anglas and the bespoke workshops in rue Faubourg St.-Antoine. Delos has been on his own for several years, and commutes several days a week to Paris from Saumur, where he does most of his back-room work. The Paris shop is tiny and charming, and with two assistants it’s understandable that it can get too cramped to do all the shoemaking process there. However, as the first picture demonstrates, M. Delos still does work on making lasts there, and in fact trained as a formier, a lastmaker.
He explained his measurement process, which is detailed and involves measurements around the tarsals, the ball of the foot, the instep, as well as measurements to take into account the volume of the foot and notations of any particularities in the foot (boniness, fleshiness, muscularity, etc.). Naturally, he makes a leather trial shoe with cork sole, cut up after fitting for any adjustments and to note weight distribution.
He exhibited certain of his models in order to demonstrate his ability working on both sleek, elegant models with beveled waists and Norwegian-welted boots. Of note, of course, are the “Rubirosa”-styled 3-piece trees, to coin a phrase.
We also discussed certain issues facing smaller artisans today. M. Delos is one of the few young artisans, at least in bootmaking, to have struck out on his own. Many factors render such a step difficult. For example, smaller makers find it much harder to purchase hides – larger houses have the capital and the demand to buy large quantities of hides and can lock up supplies. This was a factor I had not contemplated. It was also interesting to note that even larger houses of quality benefit from economies of scale, as smaller makers may pay a multiple of the price paid by larger houses for the same hides. At the same time, a smaller maker may be able to buy remaining quantities of rare hides (such as leathers no longer made in a certain way or old stock) in amounts which larger houses would or could not use.
Delos also showed us his rather ingenious entry for a bootmaking exposition: bespoke ostrich rollerblades with bespoke boots designed to fit perfectly inside. Michael and I agreed that such an innovation could benefit the harried American commuter. Are we to see Manton zipping around bike messengers in such a concoction in the streets of New York?
The tan wholecut is an example of the RTW made by small French cobbler Stanislas Bottier (named for the son of the proprietor Olivier (?) Guyot, no relation to Marc Guyot). Full disclosure: Olivier Guyot’s son Alexis works at Delos. M. Delos has designed lasts for them. The shoes are attractive and are available on a MTO basis from Delos.
Lastly, the brown shoes are vintage bespoke Henry Maxwell punched-cap toes, reconditioned and resoled by M. Delos on my own bespoke last (which fit well, he commented).
Thanks to Michael for taking the initiative to add M. Delos to his unique series of portraits of true originals in men’s clothing.
Well, getting us back together took almost as much legal wrangling and negotiation as those Abba reunions that always fizzle out, but in the end Alden and I teamed up on Delos' picturesque street on Montmartre to visit Delos.
I've written about my personal experiences with Anthony in the shoe subforum (q.v.). Thus perhaps my comments here should be of a general nature.
M. Delos trained as a Compagnon du Devoir, which is a French group/system for artisans to train and apprentice in various specialized trades, from bottier to master roofer. As such, he learned his trade all over France, as well as in Cologne, working under various cobblers and bootmakers. Probably of greatest salience to the members of the forum is the time he spent at Lobb Paris, both in the bespoke shop (pre-renovation) in rue Boissy d’Anglas and the bespoke workshops in rue Faubourg St.-Antoine. Delos has been on his own for several years, and commutes several days a week to Paris from Saumur, where he does most of his back-room work. The Paris shop is tiny and charming, and with two assistants it’s understandable that it can get too cramped to do all the shoemaking process there. However, as the first picture demonstrates, M. Delos still does work on making lasts there, and in fact trained as a formier, a lastmaker.
He explained his measurement process, which is detailed and involves measurements around the tarsals, the ball of the foot, the instep, as well as measurements to take into account the volume of the foot and notations of any particularities in the foot (boniness, fleshiness, muscularity, etc.). Naturally, he makes a leather trial shoe with cork sole, cut up after fitting for any adjustments and to note weight distribution.
He exhibited certain of his models in order to demonstrate his ability working on both sleek, elegant models with beveled waists and Norwegian-welted boots. Of note, of course, are the “Rubirosa”-styled 3-piece trees, to coin a phrase.
We also discussed certain issues facing smaller artisans today. M. Delos is one of the few young artisans, at least in bootmaking, to have struck out on his own. Many factors render such a step difficult. For example, smaller makers find it much harder to purchase hides – larger houses have the capital and the demand to buy large quantities of hides and can lock up supplies. This was a factor I had not contemplated. It was also interesting to note that even larger houses of quality benefit from economies of scale, as smaller makers may pay a multiple of the price paid by larger houses for the same hides. At the same time, a smaller maker may be able to buy remaining quantities of rare hides (such as leathers no longer made in a certain way or old stock) in amounts which larger houses would or could not use.
Delos also showed us his rather ingenious entry for a bootmaking exposition: bespoke ostrich rollerblades with bespoke boots designed to fit perfectly inside. Michael and I agreed that such an innovation could benefit the harried American commuter. Are we to see Manton zipping around bike messengers in such a concoction in the streets of New York?
The tan wholecut is an example of the RTW made by small French cobbler Stanislas Bottier (named for the son of the proprietor Olivier (?) Guyot, no relation to Marc Guyot). Full disclosure: Olivier Guyot’s son Alexis works at Delos. M. Delos has designed lasts for them. The shoes are attractive and are available on a MTO basis from Delos.
Lastly, the brown shoes are vintage bespoke Henry Maxwell punched-cap toes, reconditioned and resoled by M. Delos on my own bespoke last (which fit well, he commented).
Thanks to Michael for taking the initiative to add M. Delos to his unique series of portraits of true originals in men’s clothing.
Ed,he has a mischevious face-I like him
That was my impression as well. The young man is positive and has loads of enthusiasm for his craft. He is going to do very well. Clearly we should do what we can to help.
As most of the readers of the LL know by now I am truly interested in helping young artisans because they are the future of the trade. By reading such resources as the LL, it is my hope that young clients will find the young craftsmen who will be available to them for years. If they make the connection and the connection lasts, the future of the bespoke crafts will be assured.
Agreed. Supporting artisans and the craft is a great thing.
Necropost:
Took delivery of these shoes yesterday:
... and ordered some skin-stitched apron loafers from Mr. Delos...
Took delivery of these shoes yesterday:
... and ordered some skin-stitched apron loafers from Mr. Delos...
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luk-cha
Rjman great looking shoes i love the color may i ask what it is called?
i like the way you have played around with the broguing to create a really unique looking shoe!
i like the way you have played around with the broguing to create a really unique looking shoe!
Brown? Delos had another name for it, but I forget what he called it. However, we simply proceeded off the leather in its original color.luk-cha wrote:Rjman great looking shoes i love the color may i ask what it is called?!
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Janne Melkersson
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rjman,
Very nice pair of shoes and excellent craftsmanship too.
Very nice pair of shoes and excellent craftsmanship too.
Janne,rjman,
Very nice pair of shoes and excellent craftsmanship too.
I agree with you entirely.
More importantly, it is refreshing to have one artisan compliment another's work. Unfortunately, it is not something we are treated to often on other clothes channels.
I am very happy to see this kind of behavior on the LL.
Warm regards
Michael
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Janne Melkersson
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Michael,
glad to know you liked my posting.
In the old time the journeyman where out learning from different makers and today forums like the L.L. and others are places where both clients and makers can learn just by looking at different makers products. I for one enjoy reading these forums and I am learning a trick or two of the trade just by looking at photos. Not that only, Mr Delos and other makers work encourage me to strive forward on the path of shoe making. So a tip of the hat seems to an appropriated thing to do
glad to know you liked my posting.
In the old time the journeyman where out learning from different makers and today forums like the L.L. and others are places where both clients and makers can learn just by looking at different makers products. I for one enjoy reading these forums and I am learning a trick or two of the trade just by looking at photos. Not that only, Mr Delos and other makers work encourage me to strive forward on the path of shoe making. So a tip of the hat seems to an appropriated thing to do
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