I’ve been looking forward to this week for quite some time. I’m off to spend a day tucked away in the archives of Northampton’s Shoe Museum where I’m hoping to find some new summer lacing ideas. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks plotting out the initial shapes and themes for the Spring/Summer 2011 collection and am now ready to add smaller details such as interesting eyelet and shoelace combinations. 
 
On summer footwear I generally try to use lighter coloured laces. I am a big fan of blonde edges on summer leather soles, and this can be set off beautifully by also using light laces. Historically summer shoelaces were made from natural materials: leather, woven cotton or hemp. Although all of these materials are prone to breakage, particularly when wet, and therefore are not ideal for British summer time….
 
Waxing a natural lace coats the fibres, adding strength and a certain degree of weather proofing, although luckily most modern summer laces are woven with a synthetic fibre mix. Leather laces, although visually appealing are pretty difficulty to tie and tend to undo readily. Fingers crossed I’ll find a new solution to lacing summer footwear! 

About a year ago the Boss and I made an exciting discovery whilst foraging around in a shed in Northampton (don’t ask…). We came across several skins of beautiful dark grey Kudu: African Antelope. The skins had been carefully wrapped and stored in said shed by one of our leather merchants, who was able to cast a little more light on their origin.

The skins had been purchased by him from a tannery when it closed almost 30 years ago. The technique used by the tannery to create this leather is now no longer practiced, making the bundle of skins pretty unique.

Kudu provides a surprisingly light leather that is also remarkably strong and durable. Each hide is unique, characterised by a multitude of scratches and scars that reflect the Kudu’s long lifespan in the bush, and its adventurous character. An adult Kudu can easily jump five foot from a standing position, and as they are inquisitive, feisty creatures they are prone to scrapping and scrapes.

In the image below you can see the varied surface texture of the Kudu. The raised markings are scar tissue and as the leather is lasted it displays a brilliant natural ‘pull-up’ of colour.

It is great to work with a leather so full of character and unique patternation. It also goes against the normal shoemaker aesthetic, where clean, blemish-free leather is prized. Instead Kudu celebrates all of the original texture and markings.

For next month’s Shoe of the Month we will be offering a brogued workboot in the aforementioned Kudu. The Antelope leather boots will be lined with a mixture of sumptuous regal purple Scabal velvet and French calf.

In the photograph you can see a pattern trial of the boot; made in a grain calf as we didn’t want to waste any of the Kudu. The boot is on our 11816-1 last and is Goodyear Welted onto a Commander rubber sole for a more rugged aesthetic and of course, durability.

We should receive our final photoshoot sample boot in Kudu next Thursday; so watch this space for photos!

Join us this Thursday, the 6th of August, for the official unveiling of the Lodger Penny Loafer. We’ll be open late, until 8pm, so come round for a catch up, a drink, and a chance to see the Shoe of the Month in person. We will also be offering a 10% discount on the night for anyone that purchases the Penny Loafer. A glass of wine and a deal on a beautiful pair of shoes. How can you resist?

But it’s a virtue we don’t much appreciate at Lodger. Impatience is the whole point behind rolling out a new shoe every month. We just can’t wait for a new season to share our ideas on what a great new shoe could be.

However, occasionally, we have patience thrust upon us. And that is exactly what happened with the boat shoe that was supposed to be the Shoe of the Month for August.

The new shoe was supposed to be in store this month, but a few things conspired against us. Our English factory’s annual holiday during the last two weeks of July made it a tight timeline. The never-been-done-before method of using a Goodyear Welt to attach a boat shoe upper to a solid leather midsole worked, but had a few bugs. (Because it had never-been-done-before, I reckon.) And other assorted challenges.

In the end, I decided that we would be better served by waiting until early next spring to release a perfect shoe than serving up something mediocre. But trust us, the Lodger Boat Shoe will be coming. As soon as the weather allows. And we are awfully impatient to share it with you.

Today I have been re-aligning the stripe direction for our final striped Oxford samples. The masking tape in this photograph shows the preferred direction.  When the stripes run almost horizontally over the toe the last shape looks wider and less flattering to the foot. By altering the angle to run the stripe more acutely down the shoe the overall look is sleeker and less chaotic on the eye!

- Annejkh

I searched for a suitable fabric for our July Oxford for quite some time…and found a superb fine navy/white rope-twist stripe linen in Scabal on Savil Row. Our Northampton workshop have been developing the patterns; and here is the latest version; almost perfect. In some ways linen is the perfect fabric to use on a summer shoe as it is lightweight and breathable; however due to its weight properties it is also very difficult to control!

We have experimented with how to strengthen the linen for footwear use and here you can see we finally backed the fabric with soft Italian calf lining. The calf not only adds consistency to the fabric; it  minimises wrinkling and tearing when the shoes are lasted. To prevent fraying we hand-folded the edges and added a flat-edged tan piping; known as slip-beading. This little flash of leather highlights the lines of the shoe and breaks up what would otherwise be a large expanse of stripe!

-Annejkh