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Washington Post

‘The opposite of fast fashion': The romance of a well-made shoe

You're reading Shifts, an illustrated history of the future of work. Sign up to get it in your inbox. When Francis Waplinger started making his own footwear in the mid-2000s, the business of bespoke shoemaking was virtually obsolete in the United States. So he journeyed to Italy, where the craft has been passed down for generations. He now runs a workshop in Brooklyn, where he has plenty of customers — thanks, in part, to a resurgence in classic menswear. I grew up playing soccer and skateboarding, so I was always interested in the newest skate shoes or soccer cleats. I would buy all-black sneakers and airbrush them different colors. I took a couple of shoemaking classes in my early 20s, which were my introduction to more traditional shoe construction. I was just out of college, working at a high-end bed-and-breakfast. I started wearing these shoes that I'd made. I felt a little more confident. More grown-up. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement I became obsessed with finding a way to make beautiful shoes. I started looking for apprenticeships in the United States, but aside from Western bootmaking, there was no apprenticing system, and not even the YouTube videos that we have today. I ended up traveling through Europe with my girlfriend, just searching for someone who could teach me. But things didn't go according to plan. Eventually we ended up in Florence, where I learned everything I know today about shoemaking. For the first two years, I studied in a shoemaking school under a man named Angelo Imperatrice. Angelo had been making shoes since he was 14 years old, living in southern Italy, and he came to Florence when he was in his 20s. He was so full of energy, always with a twinkle in his eye. After that, I worked in the shop of a well-known shoemaker named Roberto Ugolini. His right-hand man, Robertino, also taught me a lot while I was in the shop. Like Angelo, Roberto came from a long line of shoemakers. He was working in the family shoe repair shop when he decided he wanted to learn the craft of bespoke shoemaking. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Roberto was very direct, but he balanced it out with a sense of humor. When we came back to the United States in 2015, I started my own business in Southampton, New York. We moved to Brooklyn in 2020. It happened to be a time when there was a bit of a renaissance in artisanal products. People were tired of getting junk, tired of fast fashion. What I do is the opposite of fast fashion. Every pair of shoes takes at least 80 hours to make. It can be 16 months from when an order is placed that the customer receives their shoes. My older clients might be businessmen who have always dressed this way. But a lot of the younger ones are part of this sort of gentlemen subculture. They want to dress up and dress more classically. Most of my customers find me through word of mouth. They're interested in luxury, but not pop luxury such as Chanel or Louis Vuitton. There is a luxury in meeting the person who makes the product, of seeing the value of their craft with your own eyes. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Part of what I do as a shoemaker is preserving knowledge and preserving craft. But it's also about getting people excited about dressing up. There's a practicality to having well-made shoes that you can repair — and there's also romance and nostalgia. Doing this work affects how you see the world. You become sensitive to art and beauty. You develop a sense of history, time and place. I'll notice things other people might not notice, like the patina of an older building that's a little bit worn. I'm drawn to these older buildings that bring in a nostalgia of time, place and character, just like a good pair of shoes can. You can call me old-fashioned, but I think it matters how you present yourself to the world. I'm in the shop most of the time, so I'm not wearing a three-piece suit or anything, but I do pay attention to what's under my apron. I consider it a daily ritual: Each morning, I put on a pair of classic Oxfords. I take them off when I get home. I always wear shoes I've made myself.