FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST
Henry Harington goes cruising in Steptronic’s Alfa boot
Steptronic is a shoe company that was set up as
recently as 2008 and they seem to have a mission: they say that with their shoes there is no more “breaking in”. In effect they have cracked the
age-old problem of having to wear a new pair of shoes gingerly, so as to allow them to mould to one’s feet.
I
remember school shoes that seemed to have been made from corrugated iron: they were always bought in a rush at the end of the school holidays because there were more
important things to do in the holidays plus Mum wanted to buy them at the last moment so one would get the most wear out of them before the next, larger pair had to be bought. The inevitable result was blisters for the first week of term and hobbling back and forth to school with Elastoplasters on the heels to minimise the damage. Well, Steptronic certainly don’t
make school shoes, but a wide range of smart and casual shoes that they say don’t require breaking in. I was sent a pair of Alfa suede boots to try and
there is no question that they live up to Steptronic’s claim that, “Never before has footwear been so soft, so flexible…” and that they have achieved a concept “that can be worn all day, all evening and all weekend.” The first thing that strikes about the Alfa boot is their look. They look like a smart desert boot.
18 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
A desert boot might be something one would wear at the weekend with a pair of jeans but the Alfa boot is a much smarter version; it could be worn where the invitation says, “smart casual” or you could ignore the sign in a pub that says “no working boots” while you might have a few qualms going in with a pure desert boot. The second thing that strikes one about the
Alfa boot is its comfort. Yup, they got that one right. The boots are very supple, the insole is padded and there was no need for me to “break them in” – I put them on and forgot about them. I usually try on shoes I am testing in the house so that if they are uncomfortable or the wrong size I can return them in the state that Marks & Spencer would give a refund. Putting on the Alfa
boots when they arrived, it was not until
the evening that I realised I had forgotten I was testing the boots. I simply felt quite at home in them. I have to say that a smarter, better made, more comfortable suede shoe in a desert boot shape – but definitely more than a run-of-the-mill desert boot – would be difficult to find. The boots I was sent were described as
“Antelope”. My initial thought was that they had been made from the leather of the antelope that roams the savannah grasslands in Africa.
But, I soon realised that “Antelope”, according to Steptronic, is a colour, in this case a shade of grey. The Alfa boot also comes in black, ginger and brown. I guess that when you have a range of colours that Steptronic sell in men’s shoes you must run out of colour. Talk about Joseph and his coat of many colours! If you look at their website
http://www.steptronicfootwear.co.uk) you will see a rainbow range of colours in men’s shoes that must make them the most flamboyant – as well as the most comfortable of shoes.
Alfa boot by Steptronic Prices: Trade: £45 - RRP: £110 Distributors: H B Shoes Ltd Email:
info@hbshoes.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40