With their ability to we worn in formal and casual situations, loafers are the most versatile shoes in any wardrobe. When it came to designing our own we knew exactly what we wanted to do.
Our Duane Loafer presented our biggest challenge yet. We had designed and built our first collection of shoes on our Hajime last, but when looking to design a penny loafer, we knew that we would need to design an entirely new last.
Our Jiro 次郎 last translates to second son as it is the second last we’ve designed with Yohei Fukuda. The last has a soft almond toe, fits slightly tighter in the heel, and adds more space in the toe box and forefoot. The last is also very suited to people who have fallen arches.
With a low-slung silhouette and sweeping lines, we gave our shoe last a soft, almond toe while widening the ball of the foot to ensure comfort.
The strap is not stitched down to the vamp of the loafer. This allows a little more give in the instep which immediately makes the shoes comfortable and allows for less creasing, while keeping with a sleek profile.
The suede loafer is a grab-and-go shoe which can be dressed down with chinos or easily transitioned to wear with a sport coat. They sit on an open channel, oiled leather sole. Our suede is sourced from the world leading British tannery, Charles F. Stead & Co.
The espresso calf is a nice alternative for those looking for a casual option outside of suede. The black calf is the most formal of the bunch and greatly compliments grey trousers and navy sport coats. Our leathers are sourced from the 150 year old Weinheimer-Leder tannery in Germany.
The goal of The Armoury Shoe Collection was to produce a new line of shoes that was uniquely ours. We partnered with the renowned master shoemaker, Yohei Fukuda. Fukuda-san was trained in England and developed his skills under the tutelage of great English shoemakers: John Lobb, Gaziano & Girling and Cleverley. He is an exemplar of classic English shoemaking.
To compliment the lengths that we went to during the design process, Northampton, England seemed like an obvious choice for manufacturing. We partnered with a century old shoe factory who’s skills and experience allowed us to make a hardwearing shoe with our unique style at an accessible level.
In the uncompromising search for quality, all of our shoes are goodyear welted, feature a wooden shank, are fully lined, and made with premium calf leather or suede. They offer exceptional value, especially when well maintained.
Our friend Mr. Slowboy illustrated our shoebox labels. Our shoe models are named after special landmarks in Hong Kong or New York, the home of The Armoury, the illustrations show those places on the outside of the box.