Sebastian Tarek

If you care about quality and design, the men’s footwear market can be frustrating to navigate. On one end, you have fashion brands producing interesting styles, but the quality is often terrible. On the other end, there’s traditional bespoke shoemaking, which can be wonderful if you wear classic suits and sport coats, but the aesthetic isn’t for everyone. Sebastian Tarek is for people who appreciate fine craftsmanship but whose sense of style extends beyond traditional tailoring. To be sure, he can make you a pair of classic cap-toe oxfords or penny loafers. In fact, that's his bread and butter. As an outworker for some of the best bespoke shoemaking firms on London's West End, he mostly makes the kind of footwear you'd expect to see on King Charles. But when working under his own name, Sebastian takes a slightly different approach. The styles are more casual, and the leathers are specially treated to bring out their character. His side-zip boots, for instance, would look terrific with blue jeans and a denim trucker jacket; his slip-ons could be worn with black trousers and a flowy gabardine shirt. These are the kinds of shoes that would pair beautifully with clothes from Jan-Jan Van Essche, Casey Casey, or Evan Kinori. Since Sebastian is trained in the West End tradition, everything is made to the best possible standard. He begins by taking measurements of your feet, which he then uses to create a custom last. Once the uppers have been made, the soles are attached using the traditional handwelting method. This allows you to wear the shoes for twenty, thirty, or even forty years with proper care, as the soles can be removed and replaced almost indefinitely. At the end of this month, Sebastian will be meeting with customers in NYC. Consider him if you love traditional craftsmanship but your sense of style isn't confined to what you see on Savile Row.

If you’re interested in bespoke shoes and based in New York City, I have some trunk show announcements to share with you. There are two ways to build a wardrobe. The first is to buy whatever catches your fancy and layer these items on your body, like the collection of novel tchotchkes, antique liquor ads, and exotic currencies that decorate your local TGIF. The second is to consider the semiotics of clothes, as they’ve been shaped by history, and try to create outfits that are culturally legible. If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know where I fall on this dichotomy. If you share my view of style and you’re interested in buying bespoke shoes, you should consider Emiko Matsuda. Born in Japan, Matsuda immigrated to England in the 1990s to study shoemaking at Cordwainers’ College. She later got an apprenticeship at Foster & Son, where she learned lastmaking under Terry Moore, one of the last great West End lastmakers and someone who worked at the legendary Peal & Co before they shuttered. When Moore retired, Matsuda stepped into the role he had long occupied and became the main lastmaker at Foster. If you’ve seen a pair of bespoke Foster & Sons shoes made sometime in the last twenty years, there’s a good chance Matsuda made the last. Matsuda is unique in that she’ll make you a pair of shoes that will last in both material construction and design. The world of custom clothing (and shoes) is rife with many potential pitfalls, one of which is overeager customers who go wild once given the option. This is how you end up with bright blueberry-colored suits with contrast colored buttonholes and USA flag linings. The same goes for shoes, as men buy red hippo, purple ostrich oxfords to go with their conservative navy suits. Matsuda is exceedingly polite and will, of course, make you anything you want. But if you want to be guided towards more classic choices, she’ll gently tell you that loafers and split-toe derbies should be made with a square waist, not the fiddleback that may seem exciting today but is simply the wrong choice for that style. Consider Matsuda if you, like me, love genuine classic men’s style and have a particular fondness for West End traditions. Her thirty years of experience working in the West End gives her a certain perspective and skill level not easily found elsewhere. I’m often mistaken for someone who only loves classic men’s style. The truth is that I love many styles — streetwear, workwear, techwear, and the avant-garde — but believe that outfits look better when they are coherent and make cultural sense. This is why I so admire Sebastian Tarek. By day, he works as an outworker for one of the more prestigious West End firms, turning bits of leather into things such as oxfords and derbies for conservative business people. But he also runs his own shop, where he gets more creative license. To me, Tarek sits at the intersection of traditional West End craft and fashionable design. By “fashion,” I don’t mean trendy, but the kind of things you’d see at StyleZeitgeist, a leading online publication focused on high-minded fashion design run by fashion critic Eugene Rabkin. Tarek could make you a pair of conservative oxfords, of course (that is his bread and butter). But he can also make you a pair of derbies in a washed-out black, boarded calfskin that will go beautifully with clothes from Comme des Garçons, Paul Harden, and Evan Kinori. Tarek’s shoes are made in the traditional West End way: he takes multiple measurements of your feet, which inform how he makes the last (the block of wood that determines the shape of the shoes). This ensures the perfect, Cinderella-slipper-like fit. The shoes are handlasted and handwelted, which allows for more resolings. But since his aesthetic leans towards artistic and rustic, these are the sorts of shoes that you can easily wear with casualwear, rather than just classic tailored clothing. The black side-zip boots pictured above would look great with slim black jeans, a crisp white t-shirt, and a black leather five-zip jacket from Maison Margiela. Consider Tarek if you love traditional craft but want something you can wear with casualwear to bars and music shows. In the right material and style — say, black calf George boots — his shoes can also make the right suit look a bit more rock ‘n roll. Finally, my usual disclosure: this is not a paid tweet, as I don’t do paid tweets. I get nothing from making these announcements — no freebies, discounts, kickbacks, money, store credit, or whatever else. I make these announcements simply because I greatly admire craftspeople in this trade and would like to see them be able to continue their work. If you have questions, please contact the shoemakers directly, as I am not their representative.

If you're interested in bespoke tailoring or shoemaking, and you're located in or around New York City, I have two trunk show announcements for you. The first is @SebastianTarek, a shoemaker I contacted about 10 years ago, hoping to convince him to fly to the United States for trunk shows. Tarek works as an outworker for some of London's most prestigious bespoke shoemaking firms located in the city's West End. But he also runs his own business, where he does things a bit differently. If you order a pair of bespoke shoes from a West End shop, you'll likely get some version of a "gentlemen's shoe." That is, the kind of oxfords, derbies, and slip-on loafers you'd see on King Charles. Tarek can make those types of shoes, but at his independent business, he specializes in more creative styles. They're still lace-ups, boots, and loafers, but they're a bit more unique. To date, he still makes the best side-zips I've seen. I think of these as the types of shoes you'd wear with brands such as Evan Kinori, Paul Harden, and Jan Jan Van Essche. They're for musicians, artists, and other creative types who love traditional craft, but don't wear suits often. Consider him if you want a pair of bespoke shoes—whether because you're hard to fit in ready-to-wear or love craft for its own sake—but want something you can wear to bars and music shows, rather than just office boardrooms. The second announcement is for Ciro Zizolfi, a Neapolitan tailor I learned about from my friend Gianluca Migliarotti, director of O'Mast. When I visited Naples about 12 years ago, I went to all of the main spots for bespoke tailoring — Antonio Panico, Rubinacci, Ambrosi, Solito, etc. They were all great, but one of the most memorable experiences was when Gianluca took me to his family's tailor, Zizolfi. Unlike some of the bigger Neapolitan bespoke tailoring houses, Zizolfi's workshop is fairly modest and unassuming. There's no grand entrance or plush waiting room. Honestly, it doesn't look that different from an alterations tailor's store. But inside were some of the most beautiful clothes I've seen: incredible shaping, finely made buttonholes, and that kind of old-school tailoring that reminds of you 1950s Italian movie stars such as Vittorio De Sica. Zizolfi worked under Palermo, who was the right-hand man for Vincenzo Attolini, that famous early-20th century cutter who transported Domenico Caraceni’s soft tailoring techniques from Rome to Naples. Attolini is widely considered to be the father of modern Neapolitan tailoring, as he developed many of this region's hallmarks. Thus, it's no surprise that Zizolfi carries forward this same tradition. His jackets are minimally padded with a soft, natural shoulder line and an extended front dart that runs from the chest pocket to the hem. Lapels are slightly wide and straight; the quarters sweep back to the hips. The overall expression is very soft, casual, and natural, but still supremely classic. IMO, the most important quality is that Zizolfi, unlike many younger tailors, still posses that old-school eye, which means he can guide you towards proper cloths. He will also never make you a skimpy jacket—everything here is very classic. I still regret not getting a sport coat from him when I first visited that studio. Finally, my usual disclosure: I don't get anything from making these announcements. I don't get kickbacks, freebies, discounts, commissions, payment, or whatever else. I only make these announcements because I love bespoke crafts and would like to see the few remaining artisans in this industry be able to continue their work. If you have questions, please contact these makers directly.

New menswear pod! @SebastianTarek makes bespoke shoes for people who favor a more modern wardrobe (think: more Evan Kinori, less Anderson & Sheppard). @urban_comp and I chat with him about his work and London's bespoke shoemaking trade at large. pod.link/blamo/episode/aabc9…

Two upcoming trunk shows if you're based in the United States and interested in bespoke (also one event in Tokyo). The first is Sebastian Tarek, a London-based bespoke shoemaker. In London, the West End bespoke shoemaking trade largely relies on a network of outworkers (basically people who make shoes for the company). Sebastian works as an outworker for one of the most prestigious West End firms. This means that a lot of his time is spent making the kind of dress shoes you'd expect to see ordered in the West End—black stitch cap oxfords, brown split-toe derbies, and dressier slip-ons that businessmen and women wear to offices. But Sebastian also operates his own independent shoemaking company out of Spitalfields. There, he makes what I admiringly call "artisanal shoes." All handmade bespoke shoes are "artisanal," of course. But his aesthetic is a little more rustic, making them a natural pairing for fashion lines such as Evan Kinori, Rick Owens, and Yohji Yamamoto. Basically the type of clothes discussed on StyleZeitgeist or sold at in-the-know shops with moody Instagrams and niche fashion lines from Germany and Japan. I've been admiring Sebastian's work for years and once tried to order a pair of black side-zip boots to replace a pair I owned from Margiela. Unfortunately, he was not able to visit the United States at the time, so I had to go elsewhere for my boots. But I admire his work because it combines traditional West End craftsmanship (e.g., bespoke last, handwelted sole, etc) with fashion forward design. Most designer fashion lines have shoddily made shoes constructed from glued-on soles and subpar leathers (how they're able to get away with this, I've never been able to understand). Sebastian's shoes are made to West End standards. If you're interested in bespoke, handmade shoes but find traditional bespoke shoes too dressy, this may be for you. Sebastian will be meeting customers at South Soho Bar in NYC on October 13th and the menswear store Ansnam in Tokyo on October 19th and 20th. You can reach out to him directly on Twitter @SebastianTarek. There is a link in his bio to his website, where you can reach him via email. Second, Sartoria Solito will be visiting San Francisco and Los Angeles in early October. As mentioned a few weeks ago, the Sartoria Solito is a small tailoring workshop in Naples, Italy run by a father and son team (Gennaro and Luigi, respectively). As is typical in Naples, they make very soft coats—just 1.5 ply padding across the shoulder and a very light amount of construction across the chest. They also extend the front dart (again, as is typical for Neapolitan tailors). The result is a very classic but youthful coat with a bit of fullness in the chest and a soft, natural shoulder line. This sort of style is great if you want something that looks a bit more relaxed and casual when compared to traditional British tailoring (which tends to be stiffer). The Solitos also make one of the best lapel rolls I've seen. Consider them if you want a more youthful version of classic style and a semi-casual cut that doesn't have any of the stiff formality often associated with tailoring. As usual, none of my tweets are sponsored. I don't get any money, kickbacks, commissions, freebies, or anything else from announcing these trunk shows. I only do it because I care a lot about bespoke tailoring and shoemaking and would like to see these companies thrive. It's also nice to connect people with makers. If you have any questions, please direct them to the tailors and shoemakers.