Hand-Painted Patina for the Affluent Shoe snob

The definition of a Patina is a gloss or sheen on a surface resulting from age or polishing.

The Art of Patina

Patina is an art crafted and designed for shoes by Olga Berluti, member of the famous French brand Berluti which took the world by storm in the 80’s. Hand coloring of shoes was then a fairly new thing in the world of luxury shoes and leather products.

 An Antique Finishing Technique for Leathers

The patina art craft method is a hand dyeing procedure of leather, which creates a completely unique patina with an aged effect. The procedure begins with unfinished crust leather, which has been tanned and handled, but not dyed yet.

The artist applies the dyes manually to the uncut hide and the fully assembled shoe, with the usage of white cloths, brushes and sometimes sponges, to create a unique look on each and every pair of shoes. With attentive care and superior savoir-faire, a dedicated craftsman perfects the personality of each pair of shoes, helping forge their special “soul”.

The Patina craft requires a Highly Skilled artist

The Patina art craft is still considered to be very young. There are many patina techniques still to be discovered. Very few artists lead this new art, and we are proud to work with the best patina artist in the Europe.

Discovering new coloring techniques and using secret recipes and materials makes the patina artist job a very skilled and unique one. A good patina artist is able to reproduce a color precisely on demand, and uses it effectively on shoes as also on belts, bags or any other luxury leather goods.

The patina artist initially tries to impart a look on the shoes that make them appear older an aged. Colors are faded to create a nice old world charm to the shoe, which is attractive to the eye and comfortable to the fit. What can be more seducing than leading an old world charm to a modern day marvel?!

The new shoes bought and manufactured in a modern day set up are jaded and impersonal. This art craft and the colorist’s work on it cater to personalization of the product. These art pieces formed will probably be looked upon as collection pieces 40 years down the road.

The materials used in the process are of utmost importance and quality. The leather, polishes, creams and other materials make all the difference in this. For a true connoisseur, its very important to know which the best product is.

Our patina artist uses basic colors and recreates the magic by mixing different colors as per the customer’s demands. Also, he is aware and knowledgeable when it comes to the leathers reaction to various materials in the process. Only a truly fine patina artist has mastered the art of raising the end product to the level of a Patina.

Patina finishes

Four different handmade patina finishings are available to order through your Shoe Studio platform: Regular, Marble, Papiro and Camo.

Patina Intensity

Additionally we have the Patina Intensity Selector feature on our 3D Configurator Tool. You can choose the “intensity” of the patina, that is, the amount of shadow or aging effect applied.

Two intensity levels are available: the Light Patina Intensity and the Dark Patina Intensity, with darker shadows and dimmer tones (see video below).

So the next time you want to stand-out from the crowd and make your presence felt; design yourself a pair of striking patinas and see the head turn in the room
PS: I haven't had one customer who has got a patina done; that did not get a compliment on wearing them.

Thank you and Good Luck - Nilesh

Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better - Jim Rohn