Shoemaker · Paris · Founded 1935

Aubercy

Aubercy is a third-generation Paris shoemaker, open since 1935, whose shoes stand out for strong colour and decorative detail, sold ready-made or made to measure.

Aubercy has made shoes in Paris since 1935 and is now in its third generation. It offers ready-to-wear, made-to-order and bespoke, with a Parisian sensibility: strong colour, decorative detail and a willingness to be looked at.

BespokeMade-to-measureReady-to-wear

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

House style — shoulder: not documented

Chest — substantial handwork

Fittings — 4–40 weeks

From $1,300 lowest documented, converted

A Paris house

Aubercy's ready-to-wear and made-to-order occupy the upper end of the French market, and the house's aesthetic runs to patina, unusual leathers and details that a London maker would consider excessive. That is a description, not a criticism; Paris has a different relationship to display.

Bespoke is available and made in the traditional way.

The house today

Third-generation family ownership, a shop on Rue Vivienne, and a range running from ready-to-wear through made-to-order to bespoke. The bespoke is made traditionally; the ready-to-wear is produced in France and Italy depending on the line.

The house's identity is Parisian in the way Berluti's is: colour and finish treated as legitimate subjects, and a willingness to make a shoe that is looked at.

What the house does

Ready-to-wear and made-to-order in the upper range, with a strong line in patina and unusual leathers, and a bespoke service made traditionally. Production is split between France and Italy depending on the line.

The aesthetic is distinctly Parisian: colour treated as a legitimate subject rather than a risk, and decoration used with more confidence than the English trade would consider seemly.

What to check

As with any range spanning several factories and constructions, the specification matters more than the name. Ask which construction a particular model uses and where it is made.

The house is straightforward about this when asked, which is not universal in the French market.

Hand welted

holdfast carved from the insole

holdfast is part of the insole

Resoleable: repeatedly

Goodyear welted

canvas rib glued to the insole

gemming is glued on: the part that fails

Resoleable: several times

Blake

one seam through everything

the seam passes into the shoe

Resoleable: with a Blake machine

Cemented

sole glued to the upper

adhesive only

Resoleable: generally not

upper insole welt outsole

How a sole is attached, and whether it can be replaced The welt in the two left-hand constructions carries the sole stitching, so the sole comes off without disturbing the upper. Hand welting cuts its ridge from the insole itself; Goodyear glues a canvas rib on, and that rib is the part that eventually fails. Diagram drawn for Il Sartoriale.

The record

Founded

1935

City

Paris · Rue Vivienne

Country

France

Service levels

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

Shoulder