Recently, environmental considerations have been attracting attention along with the word sustainability. When I handed over Alessandro from Berluti to a junior colleague, I was impressed by the commitment to customers that Berluti, a long-established maison, has normally made since its founding, and I felt that it embodied the sustainability that is being talked about these days.
The Berluti Alessandro is an oxford in terms of shoes. Oxfords are formal shoes and usually have an image of being matched with suits, but the colour of Berluti's unique patina finish has a beautiful tone not found in other dress shoes and goes well not only with suits but also with blue jeans.
I bought them in 2005 at the Aoyama flagship shop. At the time, Alessandro wore them with suits by Belbest and KITON suits purchased at Tailor Tie your tie, and with jeans by Stitches and Paper Denim and Cloth, which were the premier denims of the US West Coast, and were popular at the time.
The shape and colour are both beautiful, and although they have a unique form and seem to have strong habits, they can be worn with a wide range of clothes and are very useful when you want to be a little fashionable. Not only Alessandro, but also Berluti shoes have a delivery time of about one month after purchase at the shop, because the shoes are delivered to you after the size is adjusted and the colour of the shoes, called patine, is painted in the main country of France. After the shoes have arrived at the shop, the customer registers at the time of purchase and is given instructions on how to care for the shoes and how to repaint the colour when they arrive.
As an aside, there is a knot used to tie the laces of Berluti shoes, known as the ‘Berluti knot’. When tying the laces of ordinary leather shoes, the knot is tied in the form of a butterfly knot, which is then tied twice. This ensures that the laces rarely come undone. This Berluti knot is also taught at the time of purchase.
After such a process at the time of purchase, the shoes become memorable shoes that I actually enjoyed wearing with various outfits.
I originally like leather shoes with a bit of a ragged shape, and I still own them, and all the shoes I wear with my occasional suit are Jhon Lobb shoes with double soles on the outside wings. The three pairs of Jhon Lobb shoes I own are all double soles with outer wings, so-called Derby lasts - Barros, Derby and Chambord.
I love Jhon Lobb shoes, but they are very orthodox men's shoes, so I don't wear them with jeans, I wear them with suits and creased trousers.
Jhon Lobb shoes are also great and I will introduce them to you when I get the chance.
As I get older, my casual style shifts more and more towards easygoing outfits, jeans and sneakers. When he wears a suit, it's a Jhon Lobb derby. This change in lifestyle means that I wear my Berluti Alessandro less and less. I take good care of the ones I bought and like and put them away, so my Berluti Alessandro stays in the closet for many months.
Then a junior colleague, who is very interested in fashion and in fact very fashionable, mentioned the name Berluti in conversation. So I asked him if I could give him a pair of Berluti's that I hadn't worn, and he was delighted. However, I told him that he should try the shoes on once as they are all different shapes and sizes of feet, and he said he could wear them without any problem, so I decided to give them to my junior colleague. This time I decided to give them away together with a loafer called ‘Dandy Sauvage’, which is not in the picture, but which was previously sold, this Alessandro, and a belt that fits these two pairs.
Berluti Alessandro and Jhon Lobb Barros.
Barros was purchased 25 years ago and Alessandro about 20 years ago, but it has not been damaged at all.
I visited the Berluti Ginza shop to present my junior colleague with a Berluti as a gift of shoe care products. When I entered the shop, I was shown to a sofa and brought a drink when I informed her of my requirements. I told the shop assistant who helped me that I wanted to change my Berluti customer registration, which I had purchased over 15 years ago. I then gave her my phone number and name, which had been registered in the past, and she kept my customer register.
Later that day I took a junior colleague and told him I wanted to register him as a customer and left the shop that day.
I visit the shop again with a junior colleague, but the story I told her about registering the customer of the person who gave me the shoes I bought more than 15 years ago, because I was giving them away, was taken over and she completes my junior colleague's customer registration on the same day.
At the same time, they carefully explained the care of the shoes, colour repainting and re-covering of the soles, etc., and asked me to look at the products since I had come all this way, while the person in charge explained and showed me shoes, leather goods such as bags, and apparel that was not available at the time I bought the shoes.
Among the things I felt in this series of events,
That there are people who want shoes that were purchased almost 20 years ago. That when they gave them away, they were grateful and wore them well and carefully. That the shop that made the product had kept a good customer list, even almost 20 years after the purchase. That when I told them that I had given them the item, they created a customer list for the new owner and treated the customer with the same after-sales service and care as if they were a new customer who had purchased the item.
The series of processes, such as the above, are connected to the word sustainability, which has become a hot topic in recent years, and the wonderful products made by the shop are loved and used carefully even if people change, and the shop supports the long and careful use of the products, thereby eliminating waste and valuing things, which is a matter of course, I was impressed by the stance of the Berluti shop, which takes this for granted.
Berluti shoes are nice, but I felt they were a bit glamorous for me at the moment, but the staff suggested that if I wanted to match them with my current vintage jeans, I could order suede undies (loafers), and they showed me suede samples. The staff member said, ‘I can make a suede andy (loafer) to order. They are expensive, so it's not something I'd buy just for the sake of it, but when I think about how long I'll be able to wear them with care, I suddenly feel more interested.
I also feel that the juniors I gave it to would also like to order a black Andi if they have the chance, as I feel that black Andis are nice. This series of events has reaffirmed for me that it is wonderful to have things that you can love and use with care for a long time, and this is what made me think about making this media.
Berluti Ginza Store
The Berluti shop that we were served at this time is the Berluti Ginza shop.
The shop is prestigious and has a difficult atmosphere to enter, but when you enter and talk to the staff, they explain the products to you in a polite but gentle manner. If you are not a cold caller, you will be taken to a sofa, offered mineral water, orange juice or sparkling water, and can take your time in choosing your items.
Shoes are famous, and the patinated shoes are wonderful just by looking at them, and there is a unique world view that only Berluti shoes can produce. Bags and wallets, etc. are also wonderful, and all the goods with the dignity suitable for the man of the middle or more to have and a little adult witty play element that seems to be a French brand are wonderful. Moreover, because it is a brand that started from leather shoes, the handling of the skin is good, and the quality of the leather goods is one head above other brands.
The apparel is also a major focus, with sneakers and other orthodox items with a twist, and the brand is not overly trend-conscious, so you can add to your existing clothes and coordinate them naturally. The leather jackets developed in autumn and winter are the quintessential leather experts, and the texture and the quality of the skins used are outstanding.
The products are aimed at men, so you can't enjoy shopping with your wife, but the shop has a Parisian atmosphere, so why not visit when you are in Ginza on holiday?
