John Lobb
IF ST JAMES’S AS A WHOLE represents Elysium to those who aspire to English style, the lower end of St James’s Street is a veritable Isle of the Blessed: a tiny patch of land in which some of the most gentlemanly institutions in London – Berry Bros & Rudd, Truefitt & Hill, Lock & Co – cluster as thickly as blackberries in September. Nestled in the heart of this superelite terrain is John Lobb: arguably the most prestigious establishment in which one can be shod today. Virtually a lone reed of quality and craftsmanship in a ready-to-wear world, Lobb’s unlikely origins in Cornwall (where founder John Lobb was born) and Australia (where he began to make his name) flowered in the early 1860s when the fledgling firm received a warrant from the future King Edward VII.
Since then, Lobb has made bespoke shoes for emperors, presidents, billionaires, music legends and Hollywood A-Listers. Its basement is crammed from floor to ceiling with clients’ wooden lasts, each one of which is unique. One doesn’t come here for speed – from order to delivery, the first pair of handmade shoes is liable to take six to eight months, and three to four months for each subsequent pair – and one doesn’t come here if one is economising either. Still, the fact remains that, if you seek to claim your rightful place among the aforementioned super-elite, this is a very good place to start.
See also: George Cleverley, Tricker’s
