S-1611 Ventilated U-Wing Tip Oxford

The U-wingtip that was ordered at the Osaka exhibition in January was completed and delivered in late May.

A customer who has strong fashion preferences and is knowledgeable about American vintage shoes (vintage shoes) brought in a photo of a bench U-wing with perforations that appeared to be from the early 50s.

He said that if ventilation could be made, he would like to order it.

This was an opportunity for Arch Kelly to create the bench shoes that we had always wanted to make.

In the past, Bin shoe brands used to feature ventilated shoes in their spring/summer catalogues to keep people cool and comfortable during the hot summer.

They come in a variety of styles depending on the era, including perforated ones like this one, nylon mesh ones, and woven leather mesh ones, but I think the perforated ones like this one are most commonly seen in older styles from the 1930s onwards.

The 1930s was a time when Art Deco designs were incorporated into shoes. Until the end of the 1940s, ventilation shoes that mixed Art Deco stitching and perforations were also seen.

Although the perforation design was left to me as the director, the client wanted to confirm whether they wanted to incorporate an Art Deco style, so I proposed several patterns.

The pattern that was decided upon was one with fewer Art Deco elements (bottom right).

I happened to have a 50s Florsheim ventilation kit on hand, and I ended up with a shape that was similar to it.

But that's not the only detail we paid special attention to with this order.

The customer specified the color of the stitching to match the tan colored upper, and the color of thread to be used for sewing on the welt.

The upper stitching is a little darker than tan, and the topstitching is ecru instead of the usual white, for a more vintage look.

The welt, a characteristic of Arch Kelly, is rather subdued, and there is no semi-spade sole at the instep, giving the shoe a finish similar to that of the Florsheim model that was used as reference.

The sole is 5mm thick. Arch Kelly usually has a 4mm sole for a clean, dressy look, but 5mm gives a heavy impression. This is also a finish that is similar to the shoes we used as reference.

The lining is chosen to be leather.

As this upper has a lot of stitching and perforations, I recommended leather that wouldn't twist or fray, as I thought it would produce a better finish, and just as expected, the result was amazing.

The tongue pad is made of felt, and it feels soft on your feet when you tighten the laces, so I recommend it and encourage anyone who hasn't tried it to give it a try.

Thank you for the wonderful order!

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