The bespoke shoemaker discusses his new capsule collection with East London boutique Hostem
Every man would love to own a pair of bespoke shoes but it can be difficult to know where to start. Once you’ve sourced the right shoemaker, hopefully through word of mouth recommendation, then there’s the dizzying array of material and detailing choices, with a sometimes (understandably) lengthy wait for the finished article. Of course, bespoke in any form is all about choice and patience, but with shoes that can feel a little more daunting – after all, feet are delicate.
To counter this, bespoke shoemaker Sebastian Tarek has applied his significant skill and experience to a new capsule collaboration with Shoreditch boutique Hostem. The semi-bespoke collection consists of his take on two classic boot styles: The Derby and the Side Button boot. Both are handmade in his East London studio, giving the Hostem customer the chance to experience bespoke quality and feel, minus the timescale.
To celebrate the launch of the collection, Sebastian has, with long-time collaborator, illustrator and Port contributor Clara Lacy, installed a display in the ground floor windows of Hostem’s Redchurch Street store, centred on the bootmaking process.
Here Sebastian tells Port about the origins of the collaboration and why he always buys British.
How did this collaboration come about?
The project was originally born out of a conversation with James Brown, the creative director of Hostem. Essentially I make classic British men’s bespoke shoes, but I’m a great lover of beat-up work wear. He pitched the idea of creating a small selection of boots that reflected this – to appeal to the clientele of Hostem first and foremost and focusing less on the details that I’m accustomed to when making shoes for clients on an individual basis.
Why Hostem?
I’ve been working with Hostem for a little over a year now within the ‘bespoke’ section in the chalk room of the store. It’s a store with a strong identity, so for someone who has hitherto only produced directly informed by a clients wishes, as bespoke is, it gave me a great starting point. It’s also an aesthetic I personally relate to.
For a customer who’s never bought a pair of handmade shoes before, explain what they can expect from a Sebastian Tarek product?
I make shoes to be appreciated as tactile objects, to be held in the hand. You should be able to enjoy a fine pair of shoes both as a functional part of the wardrobe as well as a beautiful object. The processes are laboured over so you can feel the details that set them aside from factory made shoes, and the materials have a tangible sense of their uniqueness. These should be a delight every time you put them on, just as much in 10 years as the first time.
Did putting together this collection feel like a departure from day to day shoemaking?
This is essentially a semi-bespoke project, so it doesn’t feel like a great departure. When I first started off in footwear I wanted to become a shoemaker. I didn’t really have an idea of the difference between handmade shoes and bespoke, so this actually felt a bit like coming back to my original aim, to just make beautiful shoes that I believed in. It’s a bit like coming back to the start of the original path I started out on, but with 20 years experience.
Talk us through your choice of materials.
Provenance is such a buzz word right now but for me it really goes back to the original idea of how a shoemaker works. I’m reluctant to look beyond these shores for materials because to me that seems an anathema to the traditional idea of the local shoemaker making best use of a selection of local materials at his disposal. Within the bespoke world I have to be able to source all kinds of exotic and unusual leathers. I always work with the same tanneries based up in Northampton and Devon, where there have been leather manufacturers since pre-Roman times.
“I make shoes to be appreciated as tactile objects, to be held in the hand. You should be able to enjoy a fine pair of shoes both as a functional part of the wardrobe as well as a beautiful object”
To find something really special for this project I went to see the only tanner of cordovan (a type of horse leather) in Britain, one of only three or four in the world. They’re an amazing company and gave me great flexibility to define the finish, so that I could get the leather raw enough to do things to it once the boots were made. The canvas was again British and made from a flax linen and then dyed, and the soles and heavy leathers used for all the bits you don’t see come from the last oak bark tanner in the UK. This is a truly ancient process for making the most hard wearing, but comfortable, soles and insoles.
What’s Clara Lacy’s involvement?
Clara and I have been working together on the visual representation of what I do for several years now, from the packaging and branding, to the installations whilst I was showing at London Fashion Week. So when James told me that they wanted a window display to coincide with the boots going into store it was an obvious fit. Having Clara’s illustration work, which depicts four of the key stages to making a hand made pair of shoes, on giant bends of bakers soling leather and totemic beams of pitch pine – sourced by James to make the wooden boxes the boots will come in – finally gives her work a fitting environment. This is definitely my favourite install.
What do you think the reaction from your core set of customers will be and likewise those of Hostem?
It will be interesting. I’m really hoping that it will help the classic Hostem customer appreciate the scope of what can be done when you have shoes made to order. For my clients I think it will maybe be an opportunity to consider what you can do with a contemporary wardrobe and the license to fill it with what you want.
