Shoegazing podcast episode with Daniel Wegan
Notes
Changes Over Career
- independent shoemaking as a movement only in its infancy
- needed much more experience to build a reputation and try it
- Instagram, blogs, YouTubers give a forum
- now it’s just part of the industry
- Super Trunk Show and other events
- “much more active community”
- when started, Japanese makers had moved back and gone independent in Japan
- easier to see into different countries’ markets
- can see current work of almost every other shoemaker
- boosted quality
- hardest part: visual references of great work
- blurry pictures from books versus high-resolution photos
- beautiful pictures of not-great shoes
- but more refined shoes take more time
- will customers pay twice as much when it takes twice as long?
- “for the survival of the trade, it’s important that people make nice things”
Sneakers
- “dress sneaker” very personal
- minimalist, cup-sole, nicer leather
- it’s own world
- here to stay
- “dress shoes and dress sneakers will coexist”
- dress shoes will be cyclical
- last new thing: patina phenomenon
- when he started, double monks were really popular, became unloved
- when started as Gaziano, wholecut shoes, now less popular
- split-toe derbies
- many of his clients don’t need to wear formal clothes to work
- wearing dress shoes for events and going out to dinner
- hears the same from tailors
- “elevate other experiences in life”
- “create a lifestyle to suit the objects of their desire”
- traditionally: law and finance
- not like that for him any more
- half the shoes he makes aren’t worn with suits and ties in offices
- not looking to get into hybrid dress shoes
- efficient to produce
- some start with sneakers but get into classics later
Hiring People
- has one uppermaker in house, Samuel Norsworthy
- not looking, but if someone appeared
- doesn’t want to grow in dependence on finding new people
- looking for someone who’s not out there, you start seeing them in people who are not right
- worked with Samuel at Gaziano
- “creative director”
- work in same room
- large work room
- a little under 2,000 square feet
- two floors, top for uppers and making, bottom for lastmaking and dirty work, storage
- “easy to get spoiled”
- lots of natural light
- not on top of each other
- workstations for specific tasks
- bottleneck for most companies is making
- can make uppers faster than complete the rest
- but for many clients, Daniel making the shoes is important
- someday, Daniel may no longer be able to make all day every day
- not actively looking
- in older days, would specialize in light or heavy
- would be happy to hand off heavy work
- “someone else can break their awls on the double leather soles”
Given Up Instagram
- conscious decision to take a break
- have a lot of work to do
- marketing tool
- doesn’t want to look like he’s chasing new orders when has tons of orders to fill
- keeps taking pictures
- can be good for ego
- clients ask if he’s still in business
- “are you alive?”
- will be back
- likes to build up a catalog, so when posting can be more consistent
- Catella Instagram versus personal
- more uniform aesthetic, like a catalog, similar presentation
- personal account more behind the scenes
- contacts clients personally to tell them he will be at a trunk shoe
- referral basis for new clients
- starting out, making for new customers all the time is harder
- took on too many clients post-COVID, should have held back a bit
- started business two months before COVID, most clients in America, starving for a year and a half, easy to overeat when you can
- prefers to keep existing clients happy
- slow and steady
- the work decides its pace for you
- current wait time for new customers minimum 18 months, sometimes 24
- first come, first served
- sometimes faster with local people when get a good fit quickly
- doesn’t like turning people away
- not the only maker holding back on Instagram
- successful makers can be a bit more reclusive
Different Sock Thicknesses
- “you can’t”
- make as large as needed for the thickest
- removable insole to fill
- loafers without socks
- have to decide priority
- there are foot types that are harder for slip-on shoes, e.g. sensitive feet
- very low-cut loafers can be hard
- also: longer, contour-forming vamps, e.g. in Chelsea boots
- very modern thing to have that much contouring
- more glove-like fit
Machine- versus Hand-Sewing Uppers
- for aprons, fine
- even Oxfords have reinforcement stitches by hand
- completely hand sewing isn’t enjoyable
- “more of a show-off piece”
- isn’t a better upper
- takes more time, more “handmade”
- handmaking is a byproduct of quality
- doesn’t fetishize craft that way
- most classic styles created when machine sewn
- look right when done by machine
- split toes, aprons
- “right tool for the job”
- would have to pay for the time
- arguably no aesthetic or mechanical improvement
- Wellington and riding boots have some things that have to be done by hand
- “look right”
Machines
- some bespoke makers have made it okay to use machines, e.g. skiving machines
- efficiency for price points versus consistency, precision
- who’s using the machine changes the attitude of consumers to their use of machines
- genius or cheating, depending on skill level
- skiving machine very consistent, but may not do what he wants
- can start with machine and finish by hand
- has sewing machines, skiving machines, a leather splitter
- all leathers are split at the tannery
- “some people don’t like to see a machine in the workshop”
- where do you put it?
- sanding machines for bottoms of trial shoes, to save his body
- uses sanding machines for rubber soles
- can afford more space in Northamptonshire, rather than London
- special sewing machines used for 10 minutes every two months
- e.g. to sew backseams on riding boots, made in New Jersey in 1890s
Doing Something Else
- loves footwear generally
- doesn’t want to do ready to wear, a distraction, plenty already doing it
- would love to do consulting
- likes problem solving
- not currently pursuing
- Gaziano had a factory, he got experience
- has friends in design
- translating design visions to factory speak
- maybe explore trees
- trees probably require more machines and space than shoemaking
- “it’s woodworking”