Bottier

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.

Sur mesureSur mesurePrêt-à-porter

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

Style de la maison — épaule: non documenté

Poitrine — extensive handwork

Essayages 1–3 16–40 semaines

De $2,700 plus bas documenté, converti

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.

Cousu main

débordé taillé dans la semelle intérieure

la tréponte fait partie de la semelle intérieure

Ressemelable: à plusieurs reprises

Cousu Goodyear

nervure de toile collée à la semelle intérieure

la trépointe est collée : c'est la partie qui cède

Ressemelable: plusieurs fois

Blake

une seule couture à travers tout

la couture passe à l'intérieur de la chaussure

Ressemelable: avec une machine Blake

Collé

semelle collée à l'empeigne

collage seul

Ressemelable: généralement non

empeigne semelle intérieure trépointe semelle extérieure

Comment une semelle est fixée, et si elle peut être remplacée La trépointe des deux constructions de gauche porte la couture de semelle, de sorte que la semelle se détache sans toucher l'empeigne. Le montage norvégien taillé découpe sa crête dans la semelle intérieure elle-même ; le Goodyear y colle une nervure en canvas, et c'est cette nervure qui finit par céder. Schéma réalisé pour Il Sartoriale.

La fiche

Pays

Italy

Service levels

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

Épaule