The Atelier

A lifted shoe is only worth wearing if nobody can tell it is one.

Shoe last, leather panels, waxed thread and an awl on a workbench
The bench. Lasts, veg tanned panels, waxed linen thread.

Why most lifted shoes look like lifted shoes

The cheap way to add height is to put it underneath: a thicker outsole, a taller heel block, a wedge glued below the foot. It works, and it is obvious. The proportions go wrong, the ankle sits too high in the trouser break, and the shoe reads as orthopedic rather than considered.

We build the elevation into the shoe instead of under it. The lift sits inside the midsole and heel seat, carried on a last cut for that specific height. The outer profile stays where a normal shoe's profile would be.

How a pair is made

  1. 01The lastEach lift height gets its own last rather than a shared one with a block dropped in. That is why a 3 inch pair still has a normal looking heel from the outside.
  2. 02CuttingUppers are cut from full grain calf. Panels are matched so the grain runs consistently across the vamp and quarters.
  3. 03LastingThe upper is worked over the last by hand and left to take its shape before the sole goes on.
  4. 04The liftThe internal elevation is set into the midsole and heel seat, then shaped so the footbed stays level under the arch instead of tipping the foot forward.
  5. 05FinishingEdges are dressed and burnished, the insole is set, and the pair is boxed without any branding that names what it does.
A separate last for every lift height.
A separate last for every lift height.
The welt, stitched by hand.
The welt, stitched by hand.
Setting the lift into the heel seat.
Setting the lift into the heel seat.
Dark brown pebble grain derby on a travertine block
Leather sneakers mid stride on wet cobblestones in Milan

The box

Nothing on the outside of the packaging refers to height, lift or elevation. No wording on the box, the tissue or the shipping label. If a pair arrives at your office, it arrives as a pair of shoes.

Shoe box with tissue, unbranded

What we will not claim

Added height does not fix posture, change your spine or alter your hormones. You will see those claims elsewhere in this category. They are not supported, and we are not going to make them. What a pair of these does is make you two or three inches taller while you are wearing them, without anyone being able to see why.

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