Blackfriars Hybrid Boot

Now this is an interesting bespoke hybrid boot, a long time in the making with a lot of input from the customer. A labour of love if you will.

The customer first came to us wearing a pair of Hoka sneakers which were totally fine in and of themselves. But they didn’t really suit his personal style. Subsequently, the reason became clear. He had an arthritic big toe in his left foot which made wearing anything other than the Hokas extremely painful. The Hokas work for him because they have a built in rocker sole which isolated his big toe joint and made walking all day possible for him. The rocker sole alters your gait by preventing the foot from flexing and helps in these circumstances.

But what he really wanted was a pair stitchdown style work boots. Previously every pair he had tried was impossibly painful for him so he came to us hoping to find a solution. And the Blackfriars hybrid boot is the result.

We designed a very simple derby style with a straight cap and a counter. But the real work was in developing the rocker sole. We made it with a lightweight EVA and spent many hours fine tuning the profile to get just the right amount of rock, in just the right place.

Also, we played with the heel strike and gave it a Kickers style slope (if you remember those!)

This pair will find a home in New York and we hope they will be very happy there. The customer had struggled to find work boots to fit so these free him from his sneaker hell.

We think they look pretty cool.

UPPERS: chestnut veg tanned calf leather by Badalassi carlo; straight cap with brougue punching; counter with brogue punching

LINING: burgundy kid quarters and straw veg tanned calf vamps

MAKING: hand welted; Bakers leather through; hand crafted EVA rocker sole; Vibram sheeting sole

If you like the idea of bespoke, please get in touch with us – [email protected] and we will happily talk you through the process.

And maybe take a look at this boot for inspiration.