Space Age Bespoke Shoes

James Taylor & Son, shoemakers of Paddington Street, Marylebone, London, bring the time-honoured process of bespoke shoe making into the space age by incorporating a 3D CAD scanning system into the procedure. From a CAD scan, James Taylor are able to generate a precise 'digital cast' of your feet that is accurate to a millimetre, which is then milled into a beech wood last before passing over to the handcrafted part: 'leather cutting, stitching and making'. Understandably, they call this CAD scan innovation revolutionary, and this revolution has been made where it counts — in providing a perfectly fitted shoe.

Forget your feet

James Taylor & Son is currently owned by Peter Schweiger, who trained at Cordwainers College. He's the fifth generation of Schweigers to make shoes. Peter's philosophy for the business is 'helping people forget their feet and enjoy life'.

How could we possibly forget our feet wearing a pair of the Berkley brogues. They're from the James Taylor ready-to-wear range.

And what about this loafer as an example from their bespoke range?

What isn't good for the swarm isn't good for the bee

The crucial thing about the bespoke process at James Taylor is that that they start by assessing your foot. They can accommodate a myriad range of foot conditions into a bespoke design, and they are willing to advise on the style of shoe that best suits the shape of your foot. There is no use crafting a style of shoe that you won't be comfortable wearing. The designs can incorporate any ideas you have in terms of look and materials. Be free to express your personality. Don't go too crazy with your ideas though. What isn't good for the swarm isn't good for the bee.

Southbank Centre Shoes

By way of exploring the endless possibilities of bespoke shoe design, take a look at the Southbank Centre Shoes with the yellow laces above and below. Rosemary Anrude, a designer and maker, worked with James Taylor & Sons to create the shoes. The design brief was to introduce an architectural surface identifiable with the Southbank Centre, London, into the design of the shoe. The shoes are part of a Texturall series of products linked to other London landmarks in a similar fashion.

Continuity, despite the modernist leanings

Rosemary developed 'a new process of embossing leather which gives an intricately detailed textured result' for the shoes. The embossing finish reminds me of examples of Dutch gilded leather, which lends a certain continuity of tradition, despite the modernist leanings of the shoes.