Our AW’10 collection is on its way into the Lodger shop in the coming weeks (watch this space), but we’re already well under way developing our A/W’11 line up. For AW’10, Annejkh drew upon from the antique, rich colours of the Old Masters. For AW’11 we’ve sought inspiration from vintage ski and mountaineering pursuits and their accompanying paraphernalia.

Our research took us back to the Shoe Collection at the Northampton Museum and its rich seam of shoe history. Our day turning over racks of shoeboxes yielded many ski and mountaineering boots from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s.

We’ve been seduced by the hardy, chunky aesthetic: the heavier leathers, double leather soles and robust hardware. The buckle straps across the instep were intended to provide extra support and grip (to the admittedly ill-suited ankle-height boots!), the square toes were designed to fit into the bone crunching non-release bear trap bindings on old wooden skis.

But we’ve also been taken by the more subtle details: the contrast stitching on the uppers and welt, the woven, colourful laces and snug lining materials.

One of the more intriguing details was the variety of welts we came across and the visual impact these can have on the finished shoe.

Needless to say, you can expect to see a move on from our classic antiqued storm welts come 2011.

The collection remains under wraps (and on paper) for now, but there are more sneak previews to come from the design department as the sampling process progresses this coming Autumn.

The resilience of leather never ceases to amaze me and a recent business trip to Montreal put this to the test.

After the strangest flight I have ever been on (who would have thought a lawnmower engine could keep a passenger plane in the air?), I arrived at my hotel and unpacked my bag. I had very little planned in the evening, so was intending to polish my shoes while exploring Canadian television.

I grabbed my shoe kit and took out the polish, the cream and the toothbrush for the welt. But I’d forgotten my brushes and sylvette. I was very disappointed with myself. So I went on the hunt for a something cotton that I could use instead. After several fruitless minutes, I gave up and went for dinner.

Later that evening, I was a bit bored by the amount of French shows on the box and found myself reading the hotel information. To my utter joy (yes, I was that bored), there was a free shoe shine service. So I popped my shoes into the plastic bag I found in the wardrobe and hung them outside my door.

The next morning, they were back outside my room and barely looked polished at all. Indeed, if anything, it looked like they had been given a quick once-over with a brush that had been used for black shoes. I returned to being annoyed at myself for travelling with an incomplete shoe kit.

The day went from bad to worse with regard to the shoes. First, it rained heavily. Then I missed my step in a pedestrian area and scraped the outside back of my heel cup on a curbstone. Finally, I got home and realised that I had also forgotten my shoe trees. So I had wet, scratched shoes with no way to support their shape or polish them properly.

My final error was to pack the shoes in my suitcase for the return journey instead of wearing them. Without shoe trees, they took a bit of a beating from the luggage handlers at La Guardia. I’ve never seen them in such bad shape and I was ashamed of myself.

As soon as I got home, I whipped out the polish and cream and gave them all the love and attention that I had time for. The next day, I swung by my favourite shoe shine stall in New York: the one in the dining hall at Grand Central station.

Ten minutes and a hefty tip later and my mid brown cap-toes were back to their best.

We’ve received a delivery of Spring boots and they are scrumptious! They marry two of our most popular pieces, the Almond Latigo English Classic brogue and our Country Boot. The split commando-soled country boot has been remarkably popular over the winter, and it’s back in a fresh new guise.

I’ve swapped the heavier Country Grain calf for Almond Latigo: a popular, lighter leather we used on the English Classic Brogue. The honey hues make it a brilliant Spring option.

I’ve kept the storm welt but this time it’s stained with a light caramel wash, matching the sole edge. The boot is double-laced with a dark brown heavy-weave bootlace, picking up the darker shades of the brogue underlay and bitter chocolate eyelets.

The boot has a gentle antiqued finish and is fully lined in plump calf.

Available online and instore soon.

In recent blogs I’ve discussed the impact that component details such as lace colour and edge treatments can have on footwear design. A prime example of this is March’s shoe of the month.
 
I have taken our country brogue, this time in black grain calf, and injected styling elements that lighten and freshen the shoe’s aesthetic. Despite it being a black shoe, the styling has transformed it into an eye-catching and surprisingly successful Spring/Summer piece. The forthcoming Lodger Spring/Summer 2011 Collection explores the idea of melding traditions from different seasons. Pairing darker textured leathers, traditionally selected for a wintry aesthetic, with light ’summery’ sole edges, skeleton linings and natural welt stitching is a look I have explored at length and feel works beautifully.
 
The storm welt on March’s shoe is unstained and simply sealed with a light waxing. This pale leather colour is reflected in the flat cotton lace. The sole edge has also been left ‘nude’ and clear-waxed. The final touch is leaving the welt stitch a natural linen colour. The grained pebble texture contrasts with the smooth flat edges of the light sole edge, and leads the eye from the light lace, down through the brogued pattern pieces to the rolled storm welt.

I recently commissioned my third single-breasted suit from my tailor*. At this stage my pattern for a single-breasted jacket is pretty much cemented. The balance works well, the sleeves have been adjusted to just the right length and small issues like the height of the waist button have been ironed out.

So it makes sense to speed the process up. At the moment I effectively have three fittings: basted, forward and final. As I always end up having something small changed when the suit is completed (such as the sleeve length or trouser waist) the final appointment is effectively a fitting.

The choice is basically to skip either the basted or forward fitting. If I skipped the basted, the cutter could send the cloth to the jacket-maker immediately, without having to wait for me to come in for a fitting. It would also save the time it takes for the jacket to be basted (say half a day).

If I skipped the forward fitting, the jacket maker would not have to send back his work at all, so the time saved would be slightly greater: no time waiting for me plus no lost time in couriering the jacket (twice).

Really though, the choice comes down to whether I am more confident in the fit of my jackets or in their design. The basted fitting is mostly about balance – it is the tailor’s biggest opportunity to get the figuration right and re-cut the cloth if anything is wrong. The forward fitting helps in this too, but it is mostly about me seeing the design in its near-finished form. It is not too late to alter the button positions or the roll of the lapel, or to spot any mistakes.

I’m not bad at designing suits, but my tailor is a lot better at fitting them. I’ve designed a dozen or so, he’s cut hundreds. So I plan to skip the basted fitting from now on. The jacket maker won’t like it, as he’ll have to pause in his work halfway, but better that than a botched design.

* A three-button, single-breasted model with patch pockets, turn-back cuffs and a collar tab; in mid-grey, nine-ounce Minnis flannel. The patch pockets have an outside welt that matches the depth of the cuffs and of the welt on the breast pocket (non-patch). Buttons will be whisky-coloured horn.

I’ve been quietly perfecting a new shoe aimed primarily at Monday to Friday office use. I’m generally disappointed with the choice of black lace-up shoes on the market and wanted to create a Lodger version that would be regarded in The City as ‘respectable’ and ‘acceptable’ but also step away from generic styling.

I began with the last shape. This style is created on a new last for Lodger. A little rounder in the toe than our 12221, but less chunky than the 11816-1. The toe spring is lower than the 11816-1 which lends a more serious air, and the exaggerated curve of the sloping cone lends a clean modernity. The resulting profile is remarkably beautiful and also deceptively slimming on wider feet.

Style-wise I initially worked up designs with an oxford front, but when the first sample came back I felt this looked too dull and moved instead towards a fluted galosh, or balmoral seam; sketching directly onto the shoe to make sure the proportions were crisp.

It was difficult to create a pattern which would unite the inside and outside of the galosh at the back of the heel without looking messy. I decided to move from a center back seam to a small discreet seam on the inside of the shoe. This way the back of the shoe retains the flowing double-stitch lines.

As the detail on the side of the shoe is the primary focus, I have kept two parallel rows of evenly spaced flat lacing. Usually I pull the lace holes apart slightly towards the toe; but here I have kept them straight to draw the eye to the sculpted side panel instead .

I took my time selecting materials as I wanted something hardy enough to wear every day to work, but without the heft of similar styles on the market. I also wanted something which could be worn matt or polished for a dressier look.

The black calf I eventually chose has a lovely closed grain that buffs up with a minimum of effort: ideal for those of us who don’t want to spend more than a few minutes shining our shoes each week.

This style would also work as an evening shoe with a super polished toe. As the leather is so responsive, this effect could be achieved rapidly and with a minimum of effort. I shall ask our retail manager Clement to make sure our display pair is mirror polished on the toe to really show off this effect. The chosen calf is slightly heavier than a dress shoe, so less prone to wrinkling, and I’ve kept most of the seaming raw-edged to minimise bulk and potential rub points.

Finally I decided to blake-stitch the soles, which takes away the weight that is sometimes associated with Goodyear Welting, and which can often make everyday shoes heavy going.