Skip to content
Il Sartoriale The World of Fine Menswear
★
Il Sartoriale
Start here Bespoke tailors Shoemakers Shirtmakers Cloth makers & merchants Fabrics & materials
Craft How clothes are made Tailoring styles Craftsmen History
Clothing GarmentsAccessories BrandsPeople
Places CitiesCountries World map
Tools Find a tailor or shoemakerComparisons PricesGlossary LearnNews Ask the ArchiveAI agents ★ SavedFree API
About About usMethodology Editorial policy Sources Image licensing How we assess CorrectionsContact
Settings
Dark mode
Interface language

Guided view
New to this? Every page opens with a plain-language explanation before the detail begins, and technical terms are expanded where they appear.

Expert view
You already know the vocabulary. Straight to the substance, with the introductory explanations hidden. This is the default.

★ Your saved pages
470 entries across tailoring, shoemaking, cloth and craft Reference publication: we sell nothing and rank nobody for payment Every figure carries its source and the date it was checked

Shoemaker · Naples

Paolo Scafora

Paolo Scafora is a family shoemaker near Naples, known for hand-applied colour, lighter shoes suited to the Neapolitan climate, and distinctly Italian proportions.

Paolo Scafora makes shoes near Naples in a family business, offering made-to-order and bespoke. The house is known for hand-applied colour and patina, for lighter constructions suited to the Neapolitan climate, and for a distinctly Italian sense of proportion.

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.
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 — 6–30 weeks
From $1,100 lowest documented, converted

Colour and construction

Scafora's shoes are recognisable by their finishing: hand-applied dyes in layers, producing depth and variation that a uniformly dyed leather cannot. The Neapolitan sensibility about colour, which in tailoring shows up as a brown suit, shows up here as a shoe in three shades of chestnut.

Constructions include Blake and Goodyear as well as hand welting, which is normal for an Italian house and worth checking model by model.

The patina

Colour applied by hand in translucent layers to a finished shoe, producing tonal depth that a uniformly dyed leather cannot. It is done to order, so a customer can specify a colour rather than choose from a range.

It is finishing rather than construction, and it wears: a patina shoe needs matching cream to maintain and will change over years. That is generally regarded as a feature.

Reading the construction

Italian shoemakers commonly offer several constructions across one range, and the house is no exception: Blake, Blake-rapid, Goodyear and hand-welted all appear depending on the model. That is not a criticism, but it means the construction has to be checked per shoe rather than assumed from the maker.

Blake construction produces the slim, close-trimmed profile Italian shoes are known for; it is less water-resistant and needs a specialist for resoling.

Naples, in colour

The Neapolitan shoe trade takes a position on colour and finish that the English trade spent a century avoiding, and Scafora is among the clearest examples: hand-antiqued finishes, unusual combinations, and a willingness to treat the shoe as part of an outfit rather than as its foundation.

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

City
Naples
Country
Italy
Service levels
Bespoke · Made-to-measure · Ready-to-wear
Shoulder
— not documented in a source we could verify
Chest construction
— not documented in a source we could verify
Silhouette
— not documented in a source we could verify
Handwork
Substantial
Cutting in house
— not documented in a source we could verify
Sewing in house
— not documented in a source we could verify
Made in
Naples
Fittings
— not documented in a source we could verify
Lead time
6–30 weeks
Ownership
— not stated by the house
Known for
Patina · Made To Order
Record confidence
MediumHow much of this record rests on primary sources rather than reporting.As of September 2026
Location
Near Naples
Known for
Hand-applied patina; lighter constructions
Constructions
Blake, Goodyear and hand welted, depending on the model

What it costs

Prices across the site →

These are not quotations. Prices below are the most recent figures we could attribute to a source, shown in the currency they were published in.

WhatServicePrice TaxObservedBasis
Bespoke shoeAn indicative band, not a quotation. Bespoke entry prices normally exclude tax and cloth beyond the house bunch, and houses raise them without announcement. Bespoke €3,000–5,000 — September 2026 Estimated-Range
Il Sartoriale compilation from publicly reported figures
Made-to-order shoeAn indicative band, not a quotation. Bespoke entry prices normally exclude tax and cloth beyond the house bunch, and houses raise them without announcement. Made To Order €1,000–1,800 — September 2026 Estimated-Range
Il Sartoriale compilation from publicly reported figures
Bespoke prices normally exclude cloth beyond a house bunch, alterations after delivery and shipping. Confirm with the house before commissioning.

Houses often considered alongside it

Grouped because they compete for the same commission or work in a comparable idiom: not a ranking, and not an equivalence.

  1. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work. 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.
  2. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work. Aubercy Paris · 1935

    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.
Last reviewed: September 2026 Prices and service details change; this page states the date each figure was observed. Report an error on this page

Related

CityNaples Glossary termPatina ShoemakerAntonio Meccariello ShoemakerAubercy TechniqueBlake stitching Bespoke tailorRubinacci Bespoke tailorCesare Attolini Bespoke tailorSartoria Dalcuore Bespoke tailorSartoria Solito Bespoke tailorOrazio Luciano Bespoke tailorSartoria Panico Bespoke tailorSartoria Ciardi
Picture credits 3
  1. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  2. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  3. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art

Image policy