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| A Norwegian apron, non-split toe, five-eyelet Derby from Xibao - TGC - OctTenth |
Let's make this clear first: in this post, I am not going to name any of the brands that are using the Xibao - TGC - OctTenth factory as their maker. Not only because none of these purported commercial relationships has been formally acknowledged, but also because disrupting these relationships would lead to, in @shirtingfantasy's opinion, a very negative impact on the overall very promising trend of style and quality improvement.
For those who don't already who Xibao is:
She and her husband (Chu Jiahao) together also operate the brand Oct Tenth:
In China, they sell through their Taobao store "TGC's Goodyear Shoe Store":
With enough background, we can now have a serious look at this influential factory by looking at its products. For now on, we will just refer to the Xibao - TGC - OctTenth factory as "TGC" for simplicity.
1. Construction method
TGC offers cemented (for their casual loafers), Blake (for their dress shoes) and "handmade Goodyear", which is basically handwelted (for their high-end dress shoes). The three lines are differentiated clearly by price.
In theory, the Blake and handwelted constructions can both be resoled by the factory a reasonable number of times. Then of course, whether the international client would actually spend the time and effort to deal with China customs to send RMB 800 (Blake) or RMB 2500 ("handmade Goodyear" or handwelted) shoes back for resole would depend on how much love they have for the shoes.
2. Lasts and designs
Through one of their staff members, Helen (@bwshoefactory), a catalogue of their lasts and designs was obtained:
Wide, squared: Huang (i.e. 黃)
Wide, round: Pu (i.e. 浦)
Narrow, squared: Shang (i.e. 上)
Narrow, round: Hai (i.e. 海)
For those who have a bit of knowledge of Chinese cities, Huangpu and Shanghai should not be unfamiliar.
3. Upper leather
According to TGC, their leathers are sourced from reputable tanneries such as Haas (France), Annonay (France), Bonaudo (Italy), Horween (USA) and CF Stead (UK). Depending on the leather chosen, the price can go up or down. For example, using Janus calf suede from CF Stead leads to a surcharge of around RMB 200 over regular Bonaudo crust.
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| Norwegian stitched chukka boots in Haas grain. Photo via @chujiahao9759. |
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| Norwegian stitched austerity wingtip boots in CF Stead janus calf suede. Photo via @chujiahao9759. |
Realising this post is getting long, I decided to let the photos of my pair do the talking:
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| Unboxing - 1 |
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| Unboxing - 2 |
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| The actual shoes. Upper looks like hand-painted crust. [edit: according to Mr Chu, this is hand-painted on an Annonay natural colour leather] |
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| Stitching is neat. Hand-painted patina isn't the neatest, but the shade is a decent dark oak. |
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| Some uneven colour especially near the stitching. The stitching itself is neat. |
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| No Cuban heel on this pair. |
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| For those who must look at the stitch-mark as a hallmark for handwelted construction... |
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| Leather looks fine-pored. |
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| This is a 41.5 in the wider Pu last. Fits comfortably on my ~UK 7.5E feet. |
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| As @shirtingfantasy accidentally splashed some rubbing alcohol on the shoes and discoloured the shoes a bit, had to do some touch-up using Saphir dye. Before dye application, De-Solv-it was used for speedy wax removal. |
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| Fawn wax. |
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| Tobacco wax. |
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| Dark brown wax. |
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| Initial polishing finished. |
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| Another photo of the polished pair. |
Until then, good bye!
TGC Handmade Shoes (TGC的固特异鞋铺, literally translated "TGC's Goodyear Shoe Store")
https://shop154911855.world.taobao.com/
Minimum order: 1 pair
Price range: approx. RMB 800 up for Blake, RMB 1750 - 2500 for handwelted, RMB 3500 and up for fiddleback finishing
CMT service: Yes (especially recommended for shops)
Handmade options: handlasted, handwelted, machine-stitched outsole with handstitching at the waist
Mr Chu JiaHao (@chujiahao9759)
Mrs Chu "Xibao" (@xibaoshoemaker)
Perhaps you can contact TGC directly? They do supply some shops and brands...
ReplyDelete“Hand-painted colour”, if we have to be precise, is one of the things that brought me into shoes in the very first place. The nuances of colour of , for example, Parisian brown museum calf or “mogano”, are highly seductive to me.
ReplyDelete