How MAN-TLE & Aurora Handmade a Perfect Laceless Leather Shoe (EXCLUSIVE)
Far beyond fashion's flightiness, you'll find age-old companies that operate free of trend. These makers produce quality wares agnostic of seasonal whims. They are proud to be "irrelevant" within fashion's greater churn, which in turn makes them eternally relevant.
Sure, they might do a collaboration here or there but only when it feels right. MAN-TLE and Aurora Shoe Co.'s collaboration feels right.
For nearly 35 years, Aurora Shoe Co. has produced leather footwear by hand in the tiny village of Aurora, New York, where it operates to this day. Its footwear line is epitomized by the Middle English, a squat leather clog first pedestaled in a fashion sense by craft-conscious retailers like Nepenthes and, later, brands like Drake's.
Aurora's shoes are not fashionable nor do they care to be. Their rotund leather forms are informed by the shape of the human foot, not trends, and the results are so charmingly antiquated that you half-expect them to have been cobbled by electricity-shunning pilgrims. These are garden gnome shoes. And they are defiantly cool.
MAN-TLE's bulletproof clothing similarly shuns fuss. But the Australian company does obsess over details. And that's what makes it cool. MAN-TLE puts the "tough" in "thoughtful," with both notions coexisting within its intellectual fabrics and hardy fabrications.
These ideals also coexist within the footwear of Aurora Shoe Co., too. But to bring MAN-TLE's vision to life, the duo had to slightly refine the formula.
"Larz [Harry, MAN-TLE cofounder] and I were introduced through a mutual friend, Saager Dilawri of Neighbour in Vancouver," David Binns, Aurora Shoe Co. president, tells Highsnobiety. "From the start, Larz connected with what we do. He loved everything about our shoes but wanted to exaggerate some of the elements that make them so great to begin with, while also putting a distinct MAN-TLE spin on things."
MAN-TLE thus added a little more meat to the bone of the Aurora Middle English clog. Here, the formerly squishy slip-on is reimagined as a mean shoe cut from black or navy Chromexcel leather specially produced by Chicago's Horween Leather Company. Like conventional Aurora shoes, it sits atop a Vibram sole but MAN-TLE swapped out Aurora's usual unit for an extra-thick option that transforms the Middle English into the Modern Australian.
"We made the Aurora shoe more formal, a heavy leather shoe," says Harry. "The added midsole means they remain rigid for longer and they’re also a bigger platform for our clothing to sit on."
This is the perfect no-frills slip-on. Robust enough to roar through the adventure of life but as elegant as any indoor-outdoor slipper. No seasonality, no expiration date.
"MAN-TLE’s approach to materials and construction is very much in sync with ours, so the project felt like a natural extension of what we already do," continues Binns, pointing out additional updates to the shoe's insole and hardware.
MAN-TLE previously utilized used Blundstone boots for its campaign imagery simply because Blundstones are the shoes that Australians wear. Weather-resistant, easy-on, tough, snub-nosed. Purpose-driven, like MAN-TLE.
But Blundstones are also impersonal. And that's fine; such is the nature of a multinational company. But MAN-TLE is not a multinational company. And MAN-TLE is very much not impersonal. And neither is Aurora Shoe Co.
Hence why the pair's collaborations, which debut September 5 at MAN-TLE's Perth flagship and September 6 on its web store, will continue beyond this debut offering, for as long as there are still leather shoes to perfect.
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