The Traveling Notebook of Shoe Makers

Chapter 3: Yuji

I was fortunate enough to meet Yuji on my recent trip to NYC when I meet Elizabeth Dunn at the Brooklyn Shoe Space studio, I had been following him on social media for quite some time so it was nice to finally meet him in person, and see how he works too. In short I was blown away by his skill and workmanship. A Japanese native Yuji finds comfort working on low tables as he did while working as a shoe maker in Japan so much so that he has a small set up in the studio too. At the time I was at the studio he was hand welting a private commission that he had been working on for a while, - it was a true piece of art work. I can't wait to see what he will be making next - be sure to keep up to date with his work via Instagram, there are some stunning work in progress images to feast your eyes on.

Roderick Pieters X Proef

I present to you the most easy to assemble pair of shoes you have ever come across by Japanese designer Roderick Pieters. The Loper Shoe launched through Kickstarter in collaboration with designer brand Proef last month and its sole purpose for design was to eradicate the production process by allowing the end user to assemble the shoe themselves without the use of any glue and with the help of their step by step video guide. The product as you can imagine has all the inner workings of Japanese design, simplistic yet full of character. The soles can come in a variety of colour and each shoe is made up from a plastic sole and leather insoles and uppers with the option to repair them if needs be. The design work is exceptional, the thought process has been extremely thorough to bring you a new way of thinking about footwear, construction and ultimately production.