Calzolaio

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.

BespokeSu misuraPrêt-à-porter

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

Stile della maison — spalla: non documentato

Petto — extensive handwork

Prove 1–3 16–40 settimane

Da $2,700 minimo documentato, convertito

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.

Guardolo a mano

battente ricavato dal sottopiede

il holdfast è parte della soletta

Risuolabile: ripetutamente

Guardolo Goodyear

nervatura in tela incollata al sottopiede

il gemming è incollato: è la parte che cede

Risuolabile: più volte

Blake

una cucitura attraverso tutti gli strati

la cucitura entra nella scarpa

Risuolabile: con una macchina Blake

Incollato

suola incollata alla tomaia

solo adesivo

Risuolabile: generalmente no

tomaia sottopiede guardolo suola

Come viene fissata una suola, e se può essere sostituita Il welt nelle due costruzioni di sinistra porta la cucitura della suola, così la suola si stacca senza disturbare la tomaia. Il welt a mano taglia il suo rilievo dalla soletta stessa; il Goodyear incolla una nervatura di tela, ed è quella nervatura la parte che col tempo cede. Diagramma realizzato per Il Sartoriale.

La scheda

Paese

Italy

Service levels

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

Spalla