A personal note from Silvano Lattanzi

[The Shooman]

Silvano Lattanzi shoes come apart after 8 wearings

After wearing my new Silvano Lattanzi shoes a handful of times, they have fallen apart. The soles on both shoes have opened up and are ripping off. Needless to say l am shocked, and it is a mystery why it has happened. Lattanzi says it could be the cobblers fault because when he added a `topy' he cut the thread and it caused sole failure, but l can't see how that is possible because the sole was stitched on via a lock stitch.

Silvano Lattanzi - a good man of integrity

Silvano said to send him the shoes and he will personally resew them for free. Wow, such a nice thing to do. The way he writes is indicative that he is a truly unique character with shoemaking deep in his heart.

I have asked Silvano to make full comment on the shoes when he receives them. I will be very interested in what has caused the soles to come apart.

Why Lattanzi probably makes the best shoes in the world.
There was an old highend leather merchant in England called `Pebody' that closed down years ago ( I've asked Silvano for more details on this so l can report back). The merchant had a stock of vintage leather of a quality not seen these days anywhere (even Hermes would not have this quality of leather). Silvano Lattanzi bought all the leather from this place. My cordwainer has worked with various famous shoemakers and travelled all over Europe meeting with many of the top bespoke makers, and he tells me none of the English and European bespoke shoes have leather near the quality of Lattanzi. He tells me Lattanzi uses that extremely high quality vintage leather from Pebody for a number of its shoes, and that also gives Lattanzi those unique browns that no-one else has due to the unique leather tanning process used back then. Lattanzi leather uppers come from England and the soles come from Europe, Silvano says it is best like that.

I've had Cleverley bespokes and various handmade shoes, but nothing compares to my Lattanzi. Lattanzi shoes are art and craftsmanship of extremely high levels, but more importantly, they know how to build a shoe that feels incredible on the foot and made to last a lifetime. Vass also build shoes very well, and so do Santoni norvegese/bentivegna, but Lattanzi is the King! I have no doubts in my mind that Lattanzi is King....it is the shoo l have always dreamed of....it is everything l imagined. I've never had a shoe match my wildest dreams until my Lattanzi. Of course it is all opinion as to what is better, but for me it is the best because of the leather quality, craftsmanship, the feel, the build, the refined artwork, the colouring and the sound when I walk (everything is perfect). Cleverley have their special appeal too...they are super elegant and light and unique, but for me the Lattanzi are most special, and they provide my favourite ride in shoes. Indeed, nothing compares to my Lattanzis.

When one wears a John Lobb or Edward Green he is a big boy, but when he wears Lattanzi he is the KING of all the BIG DADDY and rules the world, that's how good it is!!!

I will report back.

 

[The Shooman]

Silvano tells me it is important to spare no expense in making shoes, he says to buy the most expensive leather and never cut any corners. He told me he spent a lot of money buying that Pebody leather and there are many makers not willing to do buy that quality because it costs too much. Silvano is very big on artistry and perfection, and this completely hand sewn shoe behind locked doors demonstrates a level of skill that apparently no-one else has. Silvano is known as the master maker (my words). ...he does all the constructions and is said to do norvegese and bentivegna the best of them all, AND of course there is his hand sewn uppers like this below, an absolute masterpiece.

 

[ballmouse]

I was under the impression that Silvano Lattanzi himself was probably retired and had sold his operations to a larger firm. If he's still the namesake operator of his company, he has done quite well for himself. Kudos to him.

 

[fxh]

I can’t see how adding a Topy can hurt at all. The only thing that happens is a light sandpaper of the sole.

 

[The Shooman]

I was under the impression that Silvano Lattanzi himself was probably retired and had sold his operations to a larger firm. If he's still the namesake operator of his company, he has done quite well for himself. Kudos to him.

Silvano started his career in the 70's by filling up his car with his shoes as a young man and travelling all over Italy selling his shoes at low prices. Soon he developed a good customer base. Now he is famous and charges the highest prices, and people still come for his shoes. Such a great success story.

I have secretly been wanting to visit Silvano for years and have him make me shoes because l love what he does most of all. He told me the other day "I am dear sir, the last true living shoemaker". If there is anyone l would travel for, it would to be measured by Lattanzi and hang out with him for a day because l find him fascinating. He asked me yesterday to become his personal customer, so obviously he is far from retired. Silvano was even going to close down if his children didn't take over the business, but fortunately both children are now in the business. He comes across as having a lot of integrity.

He makes such a wide variety of shoes, and while so many bag him for it, it is one of the reasons why l love this guy. He makes shoes for everyone in all styles and constructions. He does something no-one else does. He is the shoemaker of shoemakers imo.

Today he sends me many photos of his shoes. Once again he demonstrates that NO-ONE makes shoes like he does. Look at the leather on these, and look at the art and uniqueness of these. They scream Lattanzi because only he makes shoes like that. So special.

and then there are these. Check out the amazing bleached antiquing effect and how it has a spot of yellow near the sole area. It is instantly recognisable as Lattanzi. This is what dreams are made of. This is the reason why l would only ever travel to visit Lattanzi. It speaks to me like nothing else can....it's a real shoe that touches the heart (impossible to put into words).

I completely get what Lattanzi is doing. When Silvano tells me he is the last true living shoemaker, l believe him because in my heart l know it's true.

 

[shookt]

Those are high toeboxes especially for an Italian shoe. Leather and lasting looks very nice indeed!

 

[The Shooman]

Yes, Lattanzi does all the styles and constructions, and he makes shoes in all different ways because he understands that people want different things. He can do French patinas to his classic Lattanzi patinas. He is completely custom from what l understand, in a way that no-one else is, and to the highest level.

Check this alligator leather that Lattanzi uses. You can't tell me you have ever seen anyone else use alligator like this!

Check out Immatt's stunning Lattanzi (1st pic). It screams Lattanzi once again. The antiquing and style is second to none. If l visit Lattanzi for bespoke l will order a norvegese wholecut in that colour and antiquing.

Igents bag Lattanzi for his styles and talk like all bespoke is equal and like they can exchange one bespoke maker for another if the price gets too high. To me there is only one Lattanzi, and if you want the `Lattanzi look' and the `Lattanzi browns' you can only go to him. Silvano can charge what he does because he knows people want what he sells because no-one else can do it like he does. These are the true Lattanzi fans.

A classic Lattanzi shell cordovan bespoke bentivegna derby.

 

[The Shooman]

and then there are these. Check out the amazing bleached antiquing effect and how it has a spot of yellow near the sole area. It is instantly recognisable as Lattanzi. This is what dreams are made of. This is the reason why l would only ever travel to visit Lattanzi. It speaks to me like nothing else can....it's a real shoe that touches the heart (impossible to put into words).
View attachment 33397

Silvano offered to sell this to me because l really liked it, but at $36,000 ASD for off the rack I had to pass sadly.

 

[Journeyman]

So you bought a pair of Lattanzi shoes, had a Topy sole added, wore them eight times, and the soles came apart?

As fxh said, I don't understand how a Topy sole would cause that unless the person that put the Topy sole on was totally incompetent and chopped the shoe up, for some reason.

It wasn't one of those pairs of Lattanzi shoes that they buried in a muddy pit for a few years, where they? That could have caused some damage...

 

[Lobbster]

Some cobblers grind the soles before putting on a topy.

 

[Journeyman]

^But you'd have to grind the soles a heck of a lot to affect the stitching, particularly if it had closed-channel stitching such as Lattanzi.

 

[Lobbster]

Sure, but how strong is a topy? One or two mm? If you want to sink the sole to make it even with the leather sole and do it wrong it doesn't take much to cause damage. Since it's Lattanzi I would guess that the shoes were quite old and simply completely dry.

 

[fxh]

Do people sink the Topy to make it even with leather soul.?

ive never seen it but I spose it’s possible.

shooey will tell us

 

[Lobbster]

Looks as bad as it sounds.

 

[shookt]

Sure, but how strong is a topy? One or two mm? If you want to sink the sole to make it even with the leather sole and do it wrong it doesn't take much to cause damage. Since it's Lattanzi I would guess that the shoes were quite old and simply completely dry.

Reminds me to condition my soles and linings...

 

[The Shooman]

Do people sink the Topy to make it even with leather soul.?

ive never seen it but I spose it’s possible.

shooey will tell us

No, he does not sink the topy into the sole, if he did he would be sacked IMMEDIATELY! He just placed it on top. Even if he did cut the thread from sinking it in, no big deal because the lock stitch would hold the topy on and no damage to the integrity of the construction.

btw, l had a Toorak cobbler sink a leather topy into a sole of my shoos. Result = I SACKED HIM IMMEDIATELY!!! He told me it was the proper way. I still sacked him.

The Lattanzi shoe has brittle stitching imo. I told Lattanzi this and asked him to report back when he examines the shoe.

 

[Mattrick]

What was the outcome of the problem with the stitching?

It's hard to reconcile this report of a shoe falling apart after eight wearings with this shoemaker being the greatest.

I'm a fan of Lattanzi, I own a pair and I'm going to get more, but I don't see how they can be held up as the best shoemaker. The finishing is often sloppy and markedly inferior to other shoemakers.

 

[florisgreen]

The Shooman ,​

how did the story end? Or are you still waiting for your shoes?

 

[robertito]

A brekadown of some Silvano Lattanzi....

I am not sure of the difference between these and Allen Edmonds seconds: Staples everywhere, lining and reinforcements not made out leather, but plastic and what it seems to be carton, one centimeter difference between heels and another cm difference in the cap toes.

I can't see how these shoes are are for big daddies.

 

[florisgreen]

A brekadown of some Silvano Lattanzi....

I am not sure of the difference between these and Allen Edmonds seconds: Staples everywhere, lining and reinforcements not made out leather, but plastic and what it seems to be carton, one centimeter difference between heels and another cm difference in the cap toes.

I can't see how these shoes are are for big daddies.

Thank you for posting! Hugely disappointing indeed. How long did you wear this pair?

 

[robertito]

They are is not mine. The picts were posted in the Spanish forum by the guy that replaced the soles. I will ask him, but the pictures from the insoles hardly show any wear.

The good thing is that the shoes are hand welded, have a felt lining instead of cork paste and the welt stitch was quite clean. I will post the other pictures later.

 

[The Shooman]

A brekadown of some Silvano Lattanzi....

I am not sure of the difference between these and Allen Edmonds seconds: Staples everywhere, lining and reinforcements not made out leather, but plastic and what it seems to be carton, one centimeter difference between heels and another cm difference in the cap toes.

I can't see how these shoes are are for big daddies.

That is not a Lattanzi shoe, NO WAY!!! That white stuff is not felt, it would be canvass, and that would normally be completely unnecessary for a hand welted shoe unless the leather is poor quality. The type of shoes which normally have canvass like that stuck all over the insole are goodyear welted shoes, and when l see the absence of awl indents on the insole and a high feather that is very smooth, it all indicates a goodyear welted shoe with a gemmed feather. Where is the cork or filling?...I have no idea, but it would need something in there.

I don't know what the cobbler has been told, but l think they have mixed up the brand name or someone is telling the cobbler a bunch of fibs. That thing you see above is a cheap made factory shoe.

Lattanzi is built nothing like that shoe robertito posted. Lattanzi is a work of art and clean, and uses no canvass or staples or crazy stuck on feather. Look!


Check out the feather and insole and awl marks from the hand welting. That factory shoe above has none of that.


Beautiful Lattanzi neatness, worldclass craftsmanship and nothing like that shoe posted above.
The heal. All nailed and no staples.


The Lattanzi insole


The Lattanzi feather revisited. Notice how rough the feather is from the tension of the stitches through hand welting. The shoe above is not like that because it uses a machine to inseam it, so no marks and all smooth.


The heal: all nails done by hand and no staples.

 

[The Shooman]

The Shooman ,​

how did the story end? Or are you still waiting for your shoes?

My Lattanzi has been sitting in the house for the last 15+ months waiting to be sent off to Lattanzi. COVID delayed things. The day l was to send off the shoes l noticed the store shut down and no emails were being answered. Lucky for me; if l had sent them off they might have been delivered with no-one to pick them up.

I send them off tomorrow. Great shoes, nothing compares.

 

[florisgreen]

Thank you for reporting!

 

[The Shooman]

But what about your pair you had refurbished? Why they got apart?

They still haven't been refurbished. Mr Lattanzi has never seen anything like it. When he gets them he will examine them. It's a mystery to everyone at the moment.

 

[florisgreen]

They still haven't been refurbished. Mr Lattanzi has never seen anything like it. When he gets them he will examine them. It's a mystery to everyone at the moment.

Sorry, our messages crossed and I haven't read your reply. Very curious to know what could be the cause of that incident.

 

[Lumpen]

They are is not mine. The picts were posted in the Spanish forum by the guy that replaced the soles. I will ask him, but the pictures from the insoles hardly show any wear.

The good thing is that the shoes are hand welded, have a felt lining instead of cork paste and the welt stitch was quite clean. I will post the other pictures later.

Those unshoes mean for the shoe scene what a Langa Tanga for the shirt one. I am dissapointed

 

[robertito]

I don't really know The Shooman These seems to me legit silvano lattanzi's insoles,. Why somebody put fake insoles inside of a shoe and would take to a cobbler a shoe for fixing?

The shoes are in Silvano's website too? I am sure that the customer told him that the price was EUR 6,000 because he commented that in the post.

 

[florisgreen]

I don't really know The Shooman These seems to me legit silvano lattanzi's insoles,. Why somebody put fake insoles inside of a shoe and would take to a cobbler a shoe for fixing?

The shoes are in Silvano's website too? I am sure that the customer told him that the price was EUR 6,000 because he commented that in the post.

At first sight they don't look like typical Lattanzi shoes, as a model and material (it should be cordovan), but in their website is a model called Cordovan Berlino that strongly resembles those shoes. And, as you rightly pointed out, why would the guy put a Lattanzi insole in another brand's shoes. Also the price of €6000 would rather attest that it's a work from the Italian shoemaker. The final result looks pretty good. It would be interesting and useful, if you could learn something more about this story.

 

[The Shooman]

I don't really know The Shooman These seems to me legit silvano lattanzi's insoles,. Why somebody put fake insoles inside of a shoe and would take to a cobbler a shoe for fixing?

The shoes are in Silvano's website too? I am sure that the customer told him that the price was EUR 6,000 because he commented that in the post.

Nope. Those shoes are different.

1). The upper stitching is much finer on those Lattanzi's compared with that old shoe
2). The design around the lacing is straight on the Lattanzi's and impeccable, but curved and clumsy on that old shoe.
3). The sole stitching on the Lattanzi is much more refined and hand stitched
4). The sole stitching on the old shoe is ugly machine stitched
5). The Lattanzi has an L welt that is hand stitched
6). The old shoe has a t welt that isn't attached from the outside.

They are completely different shoes. There is NO WAY that shoes is a Lattanzi.

That first picture puzzles me. Lattanzi sock liner inside that old shoe. Doesn't make sense considering all the things l have said.

 

[robertito]

I will send a link to this post to the shoemaker so he can comment further as I have no idea of what was going on with shoes.

He will have to register on this forum because I don't think he has ever posted here before

 

[florisgreen]

I will send a link to this post to the shoemaker so he can comment further as I have no idea of what was going on with shoes.

He will have to register in this forum because I don't think he has ever posted here.

That would be great.

 

[florisgreen]

This should be the model (if it's actually Lattanzi), called 01 and currently sold at €6700:

 

[florisgreen]

I thought this is a picture of the final result after refurbishing. It's taken instead from Lattanzi's website.

 

[The Shooman]

I have posted a bespoke shoemaker this link. Will be interesting to see what he says.

 

[robertito]

All right, I just got the reply from the shoemaker.

Firstly the shoes were sent to him not for re-soling but for re-fitting. It seems that the customer had fit issues with the shoes. He spoke to Silvano Lattanzi that tried to charging a exorbitant amount for the job so the client went to our shoemaker. What Silvano did was to send new insoles to ther client and this is the reason why the shoe had new insoles. I don't know if the reason for sending was to try to fix the fit issues.

He said that this is the first (and only) pair of Silvano Lattanzi that he has handled. His customer told him that they were Lattanzi and he believed him. In fact he says that has never seen a copy of any shoes. He says that it just doesn't make sense. Anyhow and after watching the video that The shooman posted he confirms that they are authentic.

He literally said' the heel rand that is made of fiberboard is the same. That the outsole is quite thick and of good quality, that the shank is the same (made out of beech wood) same system of nails and leather reinforcements., Same feather. He is 100% positive both shoes come from the same place.

He sent me the following pictures so they can be compared with the video.

I dont know but based on the above Lattanzi is a very clear case of Lattanzi te tanga.

 

[florisgreen]

All right, I just got the reply from the shoemaker.

Firstly the shoes were sent to him not for re-soling but for re-fitting. It seems that the customer had fit issues with the shoes. He spoke to Silvano Lattanzi that tried to charging a exorbitant amount for the job so the client went to our shoemaker. What Silvano did was to send new insoles to ther client and this is the reason why the shoe had new insoles. I don't know if the reason for sending was to try to fix the fit issues.

He said that this is the first (and only) pair of Silvano Lattanzi that he has handled. His customer told him that they were Lattanzi and he believed him. In fact he says that has never seen a copy of any shoes. He says that it just doesn't make sense. Anyhow and after watching the video that The shooman posted he confirms that they are authentic.

He literally said' the heel rand that is made of fiberboard is the same. That the outsole is quite thick and of good quality, that the shank is the same (made out of beech wood) same system of nails and leather reinforcements., Same feather. He is 100% positive both shoes come from the same place.

He sent me the following pictures so they can be compared with the video.

I dont know but based on the above Lattanzi is a very clear case of Lattanzi te tanga.

Thank you so much for reporting. This whole story is evidently no good advertising for Silvano Lattanzi. I get a strong impression of an unprecise and sloppy work (look for example to that shank, or the difference in height between the two heels). It could be that this customer was particularly unlucky, but at such a price point you're entitled to expect much more care and precision. Moreover Lattanzi could certainly be more accommodating with a customer who did already paid such a high price.

 

[The Shooman]

robertito I am shocked, truly shocked. I am also shocked that Lattanzi would use fiberboard. I am also surprised that the feather is so narrow, then again some shoesmakers do the same. I wonder why that insole you posted has canvass on it?? Lattanzi also makes his shoes on plastic lasts.

Did the cobbler say anything about Lattanzi using synthetics in the shoes?

I am still waiting for the bespoke shoemakers opinion.

I will tell you a secret. Lattanzi shoes are supposed to be 100% handmade in the construction. Mine are, and many others are, but look!

Lattanzi shoes - soles stitched on by a machine

 

[The Shooman]

After seeing this, l might get my shoemaker to take my Lattanzi's apart and we'll both look inside. I might have to wait until next year to get it done, but l would be interested to see what's really going on under the hood.

 

[The Shooman]