Bespoke Lasts

Hand crafted, Bespoke lasts are the ultimate luxury – enabling a shoemaker to create your perfect pair of shoes. They can also be a necessity for those who simply cannot find an off the shelf pair of shoes that fits comfortably.

Hand carved from a block of kiln dried Beechwood or Hornbeam, the last incorporates the shapes and measurements of the foot so as to be comfortable and healthy for you. This process takes time, but once we have the last correct we can be confident that your shoes will always fit perfectly.
The last is used to shape the paper patterns from which we cut the leather components for the upper parts of your shoes. Then the inner sole is soaked in water, attached to the sole of the last, and left to dry out for a long period so that it assumes the correct shape for you to walk on. So the underside of the last gives your sole its unique shape.

Then the uppers and the inner sole are fitted to the last and initially nailed and then stitched together by a skilled shoemaker using flaxen thread.

The last is used again in the final stage of making, attaching the sole and heel before finishing the shoe with meticulous care. We leave the shoe on the last as long as possible, so if you arrive unannounced to collect your shoes you may need to wait until we can get the shoes off the last, which can be quite a physical process.

Your last is then indexed and stored indefinitely until you commission your next pair of shoes.

Our expert shoemaker, Mr. Nick Elsa also repairs our bespoke lasts to ensure they can be used for many years to come and the fit doesn’t change for the customer. These photos show Nick repairing a customers bespoke last and applying new wood to make the last stronger and stable for use on many more pairs of bespoke shoes.