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Antonio Meccariello

Antonio Meccariello makes custom and made-to-order shoes by hand in Benevento, carving his own shoe forms, and charges far less than comparable makers.

Antonio Meccariello works in Benevento, in Campania, making bespoke and made-to-order shoes and carving his own lasts. He is unusual in offering hand-welted construction at prices well below comparable makers, and he is widely regarded as one of the best-value serious shoemakers in Europe.

A medidaA medidaPrêt-à-porter

An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Estilo de la casa — hombro: no documentado

Pecho — extensive handwork

Pruebas 1–3 16–40 semanas

De $2,700 mínimo documentado, convertido

Value in the strict sense

Value is a word this site uses carefully: it means the same construction and finish for less money, not cheapness. Meccariello qualifies. Hand-welted construction, hand-carved lasts and a high standard of finishing, at prices closer to good ready-to-wear than to bespoke.

The explanation is geography and overheads rather than any compromise in the shoe. A workshop in Benevento does not carry Mayfair or Ginza costs.

The range

Bespoke on a carved last, made-to-order on the workshop's lasts, and a ready-to-wear line: all hand-welted or Goodyear-welted depending on the tier, and all made in the same workshop.

The maker carves his own lasts, which is unusual: most bespoke shoemakers buy lasts roughed out by a specialist and finish them. Doing the whole thing in-house is part of why the prices work.

How the price works

The construction is the same as makers charging two or three times as much: hand-welted, leather-lined, on a last the maker carves himself. What is absent is a shop in an expensive city, a distribution network and a marketing operation.

The trade-off is access. Commissioning means dealing with a small workshop in Campania directly, with the communication and lead times that implies, and there is no showroom in which to try shoes on first.

Cutting your own lasts

Most shoemakers below the top tier buy lasts. Cutting them is a separate craft, and a maker who does it controls the single element that determines how a shoe looks and fits, which is why the practice is worth flagging even though a customer never sees a last. It is also the main reason a small independent workshop can offer shapes that no factory range contains.

Cosido a mano

nervio tallado en la plantilla

el gemming forma parte de la palmilla

Resolable: repetidas veces

Cosido Goodyear

nervio de entretela pegado a la plantilla

el gemming va pegado: es la parte que falla

Resolable: varias veces

Blake

una costura que atraviesa todo

la costura penetra en el zapato

Resolable: con máquina Blake

Encolado

suela pegada al empeine

solo adhesivo

Resolable: generalmente no

empeine plantilla vira suela

Cómo se fija la suela y si puede reemplazarse El welt en las dos construcciones de la izquierda sostiene la costura de la suela, de modo que esta se separa sin afectar al upper. El welt a mano talla su nervio en la propia palmilla; el Goodyear pega una tira de entretela, y esa tira es la parte que acaba fallando. Diagrama elaborado para Il Sartoriale.

El registro

País

Italy

Service levels

Bespoke · Made-to-measure · Ready-to-wear

Hombro