Unboxing Takano Keitaro X Thom Wills

It’s definitely a film that gets better since the beginning, trust me.

So far, three readers have told me that the shoes co-branded by Thom Wills and Keitaro Takano are very comfortable to wear. I don’t think the brand is well known (I mean Takano Keitaro in China) or sells much, so how come three people have this same statement?

Anyway, I’ll take a pair.

Unboxing

I don’t know what Thom Wills’ brand colour is, but I do know that Keitaro Takano’s brand, Clematis, the brand colour is green.

The information on the side sticker of the shoebox, er …… This is not like the classic men’s shoes field of things.

But this is what happens when a company gets bigger and more formal.

The other side of the shoe box, this is much more right. The style code is B1911.

The code follows Thom Wills convention, and there is no distinction between this crossover and its regular products. The only thing can let people know the difference is the price.

Size 5.5 is its smallest. Colour is black.

There’s also a paragraph at the bottom in English, and I can’t say it’s poorly written. It seems literary while doesn’t really have much resonance.

Uncovered, inside is this paper, in addition to the trademark, is the year the brand was founded, 2012.

I think this information is quite good. Thom Wills is not the pioneer of welted shoes in China, just caught up with the trend that Tmall push this category.

Now the publicity and promotion are quite impressive, film stars are wearing them.

Since its not-so-long-history can be written on it, can’t the even longer history of many brands be written on it as well?

This paper is all about styles, shoe knowledge. In fact, this piece of paper can tell who are its customer base.

As I’ve said for a long time, these brands may not have much to offer shoe lovers, but they do a great job of pulling people in.

How many people would know about and buy stitched shoes (Goodyear shoes) if there were no Thom Wills?

How many people would know that there are tens of thousands of dress shoes out there that are good value for money and not branded?

I don’t know which brand started it, but now a good number of Chinese shoemakers love this paper telling don’t walk while trying the shoes.

When you open it, it’s a return and exchange registration card.

As a service, it’s great, as an overall presentation, it’s lacking.

Trial pads on the floor of the paper, many brands have, and more common on the relatively low-end brands, I think the reason is still the clientele, may be the first time to wear the leather soles, did not even think about the dress shoes soles are leather and easily scratched.

Nice fuchsia colour and nice logo in the bottom right corner.

Okay, the excitement is about to begin.

Shoehorn looks like made of ivory, but they’re definitely plastic.

The shoe bag is gorgeous!

The material may not be natural, is really top notch to the touch, the sheen, and of course that pattern! It’s so beautiful, a work of art!

Last

In fact, in the first image of the upper design, this big flat chisel gives a very strong Anthony Cleverley flavour, dominating without being overbearing.

Profile is just too strong for me, the intense hard chisel is too aggressive.

Back to the question of how to deal with the outer side of the shoe last again.

The outside of this pair of shoes is very wide, which is basically a reflection of most Asian feet. After it is so wide here, how to deal with it when the waist is closed in so that it won’t be so abrupt? The answer is twofold, on the one hand, don’t close too quickly, on the other hand:

A proportional indentation through the thickness of the waist.

Isn’t it more harmonious to be wide and tall than just wide and flat?

Pattern

A pair of Cap Toe Oxfords. I know a lot of people are going to throw up, why this crap again. But I can’t help it, I just think it looks good.

If there is one feature that the vast majority of people will be able to notice about this pair of Cap Toe Oxfords, it must be the pattern on the side of this lace up. This subtle design is very elegant.

This Cap Toe is imitation, and the stitching on it does not serve the purpose of connecting, it is merely decorative.

The brand advertises the so-called Sanben Stitch, which I don’t understand and have never heard of. It is said to be an element of clothing, I think this way of grafting is quite good.

As long as the decoration looks good, it’s good to have innovation.

The circle around the laces uses the same element and is much tighter. The more open the spacing, the rougher it is, and the tighter it is, the finer it is.

Look at the shape of the heel, this irregular, asymmetrical teardrop shape, almost a tribute to Riccardo Bestetti! And then, to my surprise, seamless! The heel is a whole piece of leather.

Combined with the fact that the Cap Toe is imitation, these shoes are actually two whole pieces stitched together in one batch, which is pretty impressive! Also unheard of at this price point!

Craftsmanship

There is a contradiction in the official description, on the one hand, these shoes are handwelted, but the product description is Goodyear, these two are not the same in English at least.

On the other hand, this outsole, I think, is also likely to be hand-sewn, because the depth from the stitching into the welt makes me feel very similar to Vass, of course, with much higher density, while the chamfering along the edges of the welt, including the overall rendering of the Japanese shoe feeling, quite a high performance.

There’s no blind waist, and the density of the stitching, is significantly lower than the forefoot area. Of course, at some price points, you can’t blow it off, that makes no sense.

Outsole

Subtlety! I’ve kind of seen a lot of soles, like Paolo Scafora’s super intricate patterns and Antonio Meccariello’s mottled colouring, but these, in the realm of ready-to-wear shoes, are equally unbeatable.