Our Story

It was always fascinating to see dad get ready for a party or an occasion. He would take out his Dark Brown Suit from its sleeve and place it carefully on the bed choose a suitable shirt and tie for it. He would then wear his formal shoes which would make a crisp sound when he walked in them. As a child, these moments would spark my imagination on building a lavish wardrobe for myself with Shirts, Suits, Socks, Cufflinks, Pocket Squares and most importantly Shoes. 

I was excited at the thought of visiting a shoe store with Dad who would buy us new shoes for the school. These were just regular black artificial leather shoes with everything glued and had rubber soles. He had a shoe polish kit and taught us (I have two brothers), to polish and care for your shoes. We had small hands and could barely manage to hold the footwear in our hands, but it was always exciting to make a shoe shine.

When it would be his turn to buy a new pair of shoe, he would ask the salesperson for formal leather shoes always with leather uppers and leather soles. He would then check the stitching of the shoe and pull the sole to test the strength of the stitch. He would walk in the shoe to check the toe allowance and comfort.

As we all follow our fathers footsteps, during the late 80s, I started understanding about fashion, clothing, casual and formal wear a bit better. My choice of buying formal shoes would be precisely like my fathers. However, by then there was one thing that was evident that leather soled shoes were a dying breed. The available ones started to cost over $200. 

Rubber sole shoes (click the link and review point 3) are everywhere, and even expensive brands like Bally, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, and the likes have their starting range with rubber sole shoes. Good quality leather sole shoes are hard to find and when found are luxuriously priced for $500 and above. 

 

Call me old fashioned, but I have always had a pair of one black and one brown pair formal shoe with leather soles which I would pick from my Europe and US visits.  There are a few traditional shoemakers still make leather sole shoes there.

 

 

From the ’60s to the ’80s, I recollect people speaking of getting Custom Shoes made in London and Hong Kong (being under British rule). Today, Custom Shoes are almost out of fashion. Today there a lot of bespoke clothing makers but a very rarely bespoke shoemaker.

As I walk through many tailors, I notice that the mannequins dressed up to the party but have no shoes on them. It dawned on me that I should get the traditional classic of custom made shoes back in the market.

This thought got me researching on shoe manufacturers in countries where I would source talent and material which would pass all the requirements of a trendy custom made leather shoes which reasonably priced.

In the process, I was able to find skilled shoemakers in India using traditional shoemakers who make shoes from scratch with hand. They can deliver modern shoe designs any style of my choice with various combinations of leather colors and suede. They also use European leather to wonderfully combine colors and use stitching to add grace and strength to the final product.

It's is my privilege to offer you something unique which only you would have in your size and is designed by you.

Styled For You, By You and To You.

At King’s, You are family.

Nilesh Karani