Stitchdown - Wear Better Shoes

michael williams—a continuous lean—interview

ACL’s Michael Williams on Misguided Shoe Recs & The “Disappearing Middle” of Quality Footwear

I met Michael Williams probably 15 years ago, when I was working in a media job that didn’t have nearly enough to do with footwear, and Mike was working with Wolverine 1000 Mile. He got me a pair of said Wolverine 1000 Mile boots, my first truly grea... Read More...

David Coggins x Viberg Outsider IV Chukka in Coyote Janus Butt

Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: Father’s Day Sales, Viberg x David Coggins, and more

Father's Day is once again upon us, and if you don't have a card in the mail we'd humbly advance that a pair of boots might be a good way to make up for it. If you do? We've still got a bunch of new releases—including David Coggins' most recent co... Read More...

Carmina Albaladejo on Family Tradition, Global Retail, and Custom Shoes

Carmina Albaladejo heads US operations for the exquisite Spanish shoemaker with the exact same (first) name as her: Carmina. In this Stitchdown Shoecast episode we discuss how six generations of family history led to the founding of the Carmina br... Read More...

Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: Hermann Oak x Nicks, Grant Stone Shell, A New Brand

Embattled by the unbelievably humid mid-Atlantic summer, we've had plenty of time (indoors) to scour this week's releases—it's a good one. We've a new Division Road x White's release, Nicks is using Hermann Oak leathers for the first time, Grant Ston... Read More...

The New Thing in Footwear Leather? 145-Year-Old Veg-Tanner Hermann Oak.

Hermann Oak has been tanning leather in St. Louis since 1881, and they pretty much still do it the same way—one way, which of course is veg-tanning. Traditionally a major player in the equestrian leather world, Hermann Oak is edging into the quality ... Read More...

Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: Division Road Tricker’s, White’s James Dean Boots, Østmo x Iron Boots

In case anyone thought approaching this year's halfway point meant we'd be slowing down, we've got a dense, dense roundup for you, complete with the first Østmo x Iron Boots ready-to-wear drop, some new collab brogues from Division Road and Tricker's... Read More...

Nathan Florsheim is Proudly Working Slower Than Ever

Back in 2021, I got a great email from a young bootmaker named Nathan Florsheim who wanted to chat. Boy am I glad I took that call. About a year later I had Nathan—great great great grandson of Milton Florsheim, yes, THAT Florsheim—on the Shoecast... Read More...

Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: Orée Engineers, Brooklyn Clothing x Wesco, and More

We've got two brand new names in the roundup this week. Plenty of familiar ones too, including many shades of Mr. Lou at Brooklyn clothing and four new Viberg boots in Horween's Washed Wax Flesh, and of course, plenty more below... Trawl through t... Read More...

Division Road x White's Chromexcel Kickers

Shoes ‘n’ Boots of the Week: Lots of White’s Collabs, Memorial Day Sales, and More

We're opening with a White's quadruple-header this week—evidently Spokane has been extremely busy on collabs. But we've also got a handful of Memorial Day sales, a new roper from Rolling Dub Trio, and lots more below. All past roundups are gathere... Read More...

Inside the Shoemaker’s Toolbox—and How to Start Building One

You can't make a shoe without tools. And if you understand the tools—and by extension what they're for—you'll start to understand the steps required to turn a two-dimensional piece of leather into a three-dimensional piece of footwear. To help ... Read More...