At Berluti, the client is central to everything we create. His unique appearance, his gait, his need for – and right to – absolute comfort, his personal definition of elegance: these are what determine the design and creation of his pair of shoes, which can be personalised to no end. At Berluti, it all begins with a meeting, in one of the Maison’s private rooms, in a store in Paris or elsewhere on the globe, a conversation takes place between two people who cherish craftsmanship. The master shoemaker is there to listen to the client’s wishes, understand his habits, learn his tastes, as well as to share his own expertise, to discuss and suggest: the last shape, the roominess of the fit, the sole thickness, lining colour, patina; whether to use Venezia leather or a more exotic hide, tattooing – every option is explored to establish the inimitably unique pair of shoes. While the Maison’s signature Venezia leather is the most frequent client choice for the lustrous patinas it renders possible, a wide selection of leathers is available for bespoke creations. Then follows a series of steps to craft your bespoke shoes.

Starting with a block of hornbeam, a hard and dense wood, the last-maker will gradually sculpt the last for the shoe using his steel-cored tool called a paroir. This shoe-shaped last will then be honed and smoothed, first with a rasp, then with sandpaper. The last-maker must be extremely precise during this very technical step to ensure the last respects the foot’s morphology while retaining the elegant line of the shoe.

The pattern-maker begins by covering the last with an adhesive canvas on which he draws the model. He then lays this canvas flat and reproduces it on a cardboard pattern. It is from this pattern that the pieces of leather destined to form the shoe’s upper (the main portion above the sole) will be cut using a skiving knife – a favourite tool of leather artisans. These leather pieces will then be pared and trimmed, assembled with the lining and sewn by the stitcher.

Once the upper has been finalised, the construction step involves building the sole of the shoe. This step is highly technical and requires the most time: it takes around 50 hours to make a shoe, 30 of which are devoted to construction. There are different types of shoe construction, from the Norwegian welt to the Blake stitch, the Goodyear welt to tubular construction. Every operation within this step must be precise and requires physical strength on the shoemaker’s part, as the sturdiness of the construction stitching determines the solidity of the shoe.

After months of work, the bespoke shoes are ready. The workshop’s master shoemakers report that the delivery is always a moving ceremony: each pair is presented to the client in a box sheathed in Venezia Scritto leather, personalised with the colours of the patina of the shoes within, as well as bespoke shoe trees, for which the client also chooses the colour and any personalised details.

Last-maker, pattern-maker, stitcher, assembler, colourist: by the time the shoes are delivered, the craftspeople of the workshops have performed no fewer than 250 operations to create perfect and wholly unique shoes for the client. As Olga Berluti has always said, “It’s as complex as building a cathedral.”