A1923 / Adiciannoveventitre (Augusta)

[lowrey]

they look nothing like Rick's sneakers to me

[DHC]

Oh lord. I cant wait for the day augusta sneaks turn up on Hypebeast.com.

They look so much like ricks. I would love to get a little more insight into Simone's thought process because his work always takes me back to familiar territory. Perhaps scoute should interview him.

Your suggestion comes a little late there buddy. ;)

Man, it seems I'm being pretty abrasive in my responses to your posts, but you know its cuz you're my boy Blue!

[fenrost]

http://hlorenzola.blogspot.com/2010/03/augusta-by-simone-cecchetto-interview.html

[cjbreed]

heh, i didn't know he worked for rick for a while.

this is a small corner of the clothing world isn't it...

[Faust]

http://hlorenzola.blogspot.com/2010/...interview.html

Was coming to post that

[endersgame]

great interview. i'm curious to see what this transparent pigskin with wooden nails looks like.

i'm fairly new to augusta. bought my first pair of boots few days ago. i wear them around the house in my underwear with no socks..lol

[Monty76]

I know this has been said already but augusta sneaks run small... just got mine... size up... hope they stretch a bit...

They are amazing.. but i wish they came with some extra laces...

[tomatous]

Thanks for posting Fenrost.

When he said that he makes 800 pairs of shoes by hand, i just about toppled over! Great read.

[Chinorlz]

Thanks for posting Fenrost.

When he said that he makes 800 pairs of shoes by hand, i just about toppled over! Great read.

It's a fascinating article and a nice little view into the mind of Simone. Especially for a shoemaker that has essentially nothing on him in regards to articles or interviews, it's nice to see something out there.

Now that being said... I'm almost certain there are exaggerations here. He cannot have made 800 pairs of shoes for one collection all himself. You're assuming then 800 pairs of shoes (1600 shoes) in a roughly 6 month time frame. It's almost impossible to create a single pair of shoes in a day even for those who have spent a lifetime doing it. 1600 shoes in 180 days? By yourself? Not possible.

I liked hearing his passion in the article. He's thought quite a bit about the shapes and construction of footwear which is in line with the anecdotal bits and pieces I've heard about him and his work. I was under the impression that his work was not all done in-house. He's saying that he dehairs, skivs, tans, dyes the leather and constructs the shoes all in house which I find incredible especially considering the volume of footwear he's putting out these days. Hasn't it been discussed on here before stating that Augusta footwear is made in the same factory as CCP's and uses Guidi leather?

Of course this is not to say that he is a super hard working, ass busting, passionate man. I believe it and respect him for that. I just think that his real story alone is interesting enough. It doesn't require exaggeration or fluffing to be a great one.

[theaddict]

Well I don't know the exact numbers, but he told us that he is involved in every shoe in the production. Thus he declined barneys when they approached him with a huge order bc he just cannot produce a bigger chunk in the way the production works.

And he was hired by Rick to solve a problem they had with the heels of the sneakers which were falling apart (maybe they should have kept him to work on the weges too...)

[Nikov]

actually the article says 800 shoes, so maybe it's 400 pairs.

also, what i understood from his description is that he used to only work with leather bought from a tannery but that now he is experimenting with doing some of that in-house. i didnt get the impression all the leather is done in-house.

but i agree with you. i dont see any reason why he would be exaggerating.

[asho]

Simone is either losing something in translation or fibbing about just how 'handmade' his shoes are. The volume's he's producing could not be done by on man in that timeframe unless some mechanisation was introduced, I'm talking, press knives for all elements (soles, heels, insoles and uppers, counters). He must have at least a few machinists working for him, not too many reputable makers sew the uppers together themselves as it is an entirely different skill which takes almost the same amount of time to master. Though even with these parameters I'd still be mind blown to think it possible. I's not too hard to make 2 pairs of shoes in a day, but you're passion would soon dwindle. That doesn't factor in the time for prototyping etc. I mean a stacked heel is not exactly revolutionary.

Also these wooden nails are is almost all hand made shoes and do not cost 40 euros per shoe. They are not dissimilar to matchsticks.

I really wish these sort of exaggerations wouldn't get published. To me it makes no difference. The shoes are good, there is no need to embellish stories to add to their aura, It leaves dedicated followers jaded, especially when it comes from the mouth of the designer, rather than some hyping journalist.

[C'est Fini]

Bravo Bravo

Sly Simone.

Tanning the leather yourself eh?
That is some heavy work indeed.

I dont believe the guy.

[lowrey]

my interpretation from what he said is that he does oversee and is involved in the production of each pair of shoes. I'd assume he has someone assisting him with certain tasks, though I do know that it is a very small and family based operation.

[C'est Fini]

Involved in the shipping and transport of the items from the makers to his studio and to the docks perhaps.

Tanning leather is some serious serious work.

From what I now he does treat the leathers and has a background in doing so. Until He reveals his production process none of us will know if he is bullshitting or not.

Anyone who goes to such lengths will gladly reveal their work process.
Even CCP did.