Growing up outside Philadelphia, half-Japanese, half-American Seiji McCarthy never once dreamed about making shoes—that spark didn’t ignite until his 30s.
So when it did, like any normal person, he left his normal-person job, talked his way into studying under some of the world’s greatest handmade shoemakers, pored over every single Esquire magazine dating back to 1933, developed a tidy line of bespoke shoes that are distinctly classic American but also distinctly his own, and set up shop in the most competitive bespoke shoemaking environment of them all: Tokyo.
I was lucky enough to visit Seiji’s Harajuku workshop about a year ago, and finally see in person his range of bespoke loafers, oxfords, and my personal favorite, his longwing brogues.
A few months back, I got to see Seiji—and the shoes—again, before the start of his weeklong trunk show at J. Mueser in Manhattan’s West Village, and pin him down to tape an episode that tracks a truly unique path into shoemaking, why he feels more American in Japan, and why it’s sometimes better if your bespoke shoemaker doesn’t make your shoes entirely themselves.
Here’s Seiji McCarthy, on the Shoecast.
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Check out the Shoecast archives right here
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