STYLE TRENDS
want to come to us. And that’s what we did. We cut no corners. We made the product exactly the way it should be made; we made it a little bit younger and a little bit sexier and people fell in love with what we were doing. It couldn’t have worked out any better. Our customers tell us we have done so much in such a small period of time. “It took us two or three years to be confident we had a flow of customers who were going to keep us in business. After the first couple of years, we looked at producing a manufactured product as well as the bespoke. We invested in a factory and employed another three or four craftsmen to work with us and got stuck
into the
manufacturing side. We even brought in some Victorian machinery which we had to rebuild to bring back to life. We invested a fair amount of money in the project but it was done in an organic way in that it was money we had made rather than money we had borrowed.”
T
ony and Dean met when they were both working for shoemaker Cleverley’s in London when, between the two of them, they would complete a pair of handmade shoes. Tony recalls: “We had built up a relationship by me doing part of the shoe while Dean did another part so we were working as a team. We weren’t actually in the same workshop but every time Dean came and saw me he’d turn round and say ‘well, why are we doing this for another company? Why don’t we do it ourselves for our own company?’ “I took a bit of persuading because I had a mortgage and
children but I spoke to a few friends and customers in Japan who said that, if I went to see them, they would place orders. The first thing I did when we set up the company was to jump on a plane and fly to Tokyo. I took orders for around 20 pairs of bespoke, customers trusted us enough to pay a deposit and that was enough to get us going. “For the first couple of years we were purely making bespoke shoes, first for the Japanese market and then we expanded over to America and cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago,
“Our ambition is to become, without a doubt, the most prestigious
company you can go to for a pair of shoes. That, quite simply, is our goal”
Boston and Washington. In our first six years, 95% of the business was overseas. With bespoke, the service is only as good as the craftsmen who are working on it. It’s a bit like being a chef in a restaurant. If a chef moves, the clientele will move as well because they follow that talent rather than stay with the restaurant. We were fortunate enough that, when I left the company, a lot of customers who had become friends followed.” As you would expect, Tony is virtually evangelical when it comes to the importance of good footwear. “We spend a lot of time on our feet so if the shoes don’t support you and they are not comfortable, you aren’t going to be happy. If shoes don’t fit correctly, you walk about all day with
a cloud above you. We want to make you a pair of shoes that you forget you have got on your feet. The longevity of a bespoke shoe is also important. They can be repaired many more times than a readymade shoe. Because the shoe fits correctly, it wears correctly. Customers can have our bespoke shoes for 20- plus years. “There are also the aesthetics. When you make shoes by hand,
you can achieve shapes and proportions that machines never can. You can create a pair of bespoke shoes that look more like an ornament than a shoe. It surpasses function and becomes something beautiful. A lot of men who are into luxury can appreciate that. A lot of guys now prefer a single piece of leather. They know that, when a shoe is made out of one piece of leather, it has to be cut out of the prime part of the skin whereas, with a brogue with a lot of sections, you can cut around imperfections in the skin. “Colour has become more important. Shoes have become
more and more colourful, whether that’s rich chestnut colours or a striking blue. People in places like Singapore or Hong Kong like bright shoes while people in England like black shoes. In France, they like colourful shoes while the Americans and the Italians like tan shoes. We make a lot of rich coloured shoes. Men are also learning how to accessorise, something which women have always done. One of the reasons men have not worn colourful shoes is that they don’t know what to wear them with but now they are becoming more aware of what shoes to wear with what suit and what shoes to wear for certain occasions.” For Tony and Dean, the future is
there for the taking. “I get a buzz out of developing new styles and, looking forward over the next five years, we would like to have at least two shops similar to this one around the world, maybe in New York and in China as well as building on the British market,” says Tony firmly. “Our ambition is to become, without a doubt, the most prestigious company you can go to for a pair of shoes. That, quite simply, is our goal.” An ambitious goal indeed but I, for one, will not be betting against them.
Dean Girling, far left, and Tony Gaziano, enjoying life at No. 39, Savile Row
52 SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE
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