Norwegian Rain and Grenson bring some actual innovation to the traditional British leather shoe – Well Dressed Dad – It is a proper menswear blog. Like, with original words and opinions and suchlike.

The British shoe industry has a long and glorious tradition behind it. Many of the popular names have been producing quality standard shoes for 150 years or more, and do a superb task too. Goodyear welts, complex brogue patterns, superb workmanship and generally doing things as they have actually always been done. Hardly unexpected really, as human feet are still human feet, and apart from the vagaries of style and taste, the dish appears to work well.

Alexander and T-Michael, beloveds of street design photographers everywhere.So how have the upstarts in Norwegian Rain handled to bring some innovation to this cultured market? Well, Norwegian Rain have actually successfully established a position as a maker of really preferable raincoats, mixing sartorial finesse with advanced Japanese recycled materials, based upon their years and years of residing in Bergen, explained by my mother as “intolerably damp”(and she comes from the Midlands so she was born with webbed toes). Residing in an extremely wet place means you either use appropriate footwear, i.e. something rubber boots or galoshes, or you have damp feet. One service would indeed be to use galoshes.And that was the challenge they set out to

fix, developing footwear that was both proper for a gentleman, and capable of handling rain. Not changing the rubber wellie, mind you, however something that would deal with damp conditions substantially much better than your traditional leather shoe. The outcome likewise needed to be an appealing show, and be just as wearable as a regular leather shoe. Having stood shoulder by needs to with Tim Little and the Grenson lads at trade convention it was natural to take their ideas there first.

The men at Grensons”Lab of Gentle Innovation “were interested by the idea and suggested that the Goodyear welt would do the trick, as per usual, squire. When informed that this would not actually do, as 150 odd years of rushing through rain with moist feet has proven, they had to in fact start believing brand-new concepts. The problem is the stitching and how it bends when the shoe is worn. Whenever the bends, the stitching enables air to flow in and out. Very little mind you, but as the same makes an application for water flowing in, we see the issue. From the production line, the secret rubber ingredient!How to seal the stitches had the innovators puzzled, up until an unnamed young engineer was replacing the inner tube on among his bicycle wheels and got considering how thin

and versatile the inner tube was. To cut a longer story short, this showed to be the sparke of motivation that led to the resulting development. By lining part of the within the shoe with rubber, and layering it along the stitching, a far more water resistant shoe was produced. The leather utilizes is special. Offered the ecological issues of chrome and vegetable tanning, there is a EU-funded job running to find an option technique of tanning. This task has created titanium tanning, which in addition

to sounding incredibly badass has the benefit of offering both an excellent quality leather and being much less destructive to the environment. A nearly finished choice of shoes.From an engineering element I love tales like this. A seemingly impossible job solved by clever thinking(and a little luck). From a sartorial aspect I believe they have actually created a fine looking set of shoes and boots

also. The normal Grenson quality and sturdy Dainite soles ought to mean they last for many years. And I’m certain the eager bicyclist at the Grenson labs will have a fresh inner tube prepared for the day you require a resole. Given, not as cheap as a set of wellies, however then that was never what they set out to do. And the production is quite limited. Available now in brown and black, shoes and boots from the Norwegian Rain stores in Oslo, Bergen and London, and online anytime. I’ll take mine in brown, thank you quite. Image: Bent René Synnevåg Picture: Bent René Synnevåg Picture: Bent René Synnevåg Photo: Bent René Synnevåg