Ann Bespoke Shoemakers (Part I)

This is a long overdue blog post.

I visited Ann Bespoke Shoemakers (‘Ann’) during my trip to Osaka, Japan last September. Ann was certainly no stranger to me and in fact, I had seen his work before deciding to pay a visit (my friend Maslow owns a pair of lama penny loafers from Ann).

For those of you who do not have an idea about the demographic of Japanese bespoke shoemaking, most of the big namers (such as Yohei Fukuda, Hiro Yanagimachi (covered in another blog post) and Marquess are located in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Meanwhile, there are also notable shoemakers who decide to open their workshops around the lesser known area of Kansai instead, this includes Spigola, Yuki Shirahama, Il Quadrifoglio and of course - Akiyoshi Nishiyama (Aki) of Ann.

I made my appointment with Aki via emails few weeks before my trip. He responded quickly and was more than happy to provide details about his bespoke service, such as price information and estimated delivery time.

We met at Aki’s workshop situated in Nakazakicho, a neighbourhood which is regarded as ‘hipster haven’ in Osaka with many independent shops selling vintage and handcrafted goods. Aki opened his workshop back in 2014 and later moved to the current site in late 2017. Aki’s workshop is a cozy place where I felt so at home.

The entrance of Aki’s workshop

About Akiyoshi Nishiyama

Before ordering, I always like to get to know more about the shoemaker himself because bespoke shoemaking experience should always represent an special relationship between the shoemaker and client which one won’t find in buying ready-to-wear shoes.

In Aki’s own words, he started out with his keen interest in making various leather accessories and at that time, he did not envisage himself becoming a professional bespoke shoemaker. I could not help but ask Aki, what was the turning point then?

It was at one point that Aki moved to Kobe for school and found a job in a local orthopaedic shoe company where he began to appreciate the beauty of making nice leather shoes. And against all odds, he decided to send mails to overseas shoemakers in order to receive proper training. Aki, at that time, could barely speak English.

In 2009, George Cleverley, the legendary London-based shoemaker, eventually brought the good news and was willing to offer Aki a placement. Shortly after, Aki made a courageous move to quit his job in Japan and left for London.

The visit to the United Kingdom was definitely an eye-opener for Aki. Soon after his arrival, he realised that shoemaking in the UK was completely different from what he learnt back in Japan, everything from the appearance to the methods of shoemaking. Aki further elaborated,

‘Even in the UK, there are different ways of making shoes…depending on whom you learnt your skills from.’

After spending a while at George Cleverley, he apprenticed to the late Jason Amesbury, a highly regarded traditional English bespoke shoemaker. Before returning to Japan and setting up his own workshop in 2014, Aki also did out-work for Foster & Son and John Lobb.

Aki wearing his ‘cycling shoes’ (no kidding!)

About Ann’s Style

With all the heavy English influences on Aki, I asked him to describe the signature style of Ann Bespoke Shoemakers:

‘Masculine but elegant.’

To him, balance is an important element of bespoke shoemaking. Whereas he was more than willing to discuss bespoke details with his clients and would respond to their special requests as far as possible, a proper balance must be achieved.

The Ordering Process

Now we move on to the actual ordering process. Thanks to his stay in London, Aki spoke moderate level of English and he also brought his friend and interpreter Ryo the day I visited to ensure smooth and swift communication.

Measurement

It‘s Aki’s practice to use paper tapes to measure feet without the aid of scalars. After gathering the basic information and outlining the feet shapes, Aki examined each foot in details and would note features of the heel, instep, joint and toes. These analysis and remarks were then marked on the sketch paper and would be taken into consideration when making the last at later stage. For my case, the issue with my right foot’s bony pink toe (which usually causes me much pain when breaking in ready-to-wear shoes) was identified and I am confident Aki will find the right solution.

Fitting in progress

Model and Lasts

As mentioned, Aki is largely open to customer’s ideas. Other than the standard offerings such as oxfords, derbies and loafers, he also does chukka boots, lazyman shoes with exotic leathers.

In terms of last choices, Ann basically offers three standard lasts as the basis for bespoke orders. They include the ‘sus-squared’ (soft-squared) last, classic round last, and chiselled last (below, from left to right).

I personally found the slightly exaggerated and asymmetric waists very unique, definitely something you won’t find very often in other Japanese shoemakers.

Leather

Aki sourced leather (such as calf, suede, capybara and lama) from the renowned Annonay, Ilcea, Charles F Stead and some other European tanneries. I had in mind a classic captoe oxford so I went for a brown calf leather from Annonay, nothing too showy here. And for this reason, I didn’t ask Aki further if the use of exotic leather would lead to any upcharges.

Only some of the leather samples Aki got to offer

Other Details

Clients could also customise with different options for toe finishing (nails/metal plate), waist type (bevelled/fiddleback), sole design, welt finishing and heel shape (straight/tapered), etc. In particular, if one is going for medallion on the uppers, Aki offered a wide range of options:

Conclusion

The above shoe talk aside, at a more personal level, Aki is definitely a great (cheerful and down-to-earth) guy to work with and is very passionate about his work. I cannot wait to head back to Osaka for my fitting and catch up with him and Ryo soon.

At the moment of writing, the delivery time for Ann is around 1.5 year (fitting included). Currently, Aki only provides full bespoke services and does not hold overseas trunk show, thus order must be placed at his workshop in Osaka. For price and other information, you can always reach out to Aki via email or Ann’s Instagram account for details.

(To be continued)

Until then!