Meermin Shell Cordovan Wholecut Chelsea Boots Review: Misunderstandings, Understandings, and Achievements – Part I (unboxing)

 

Meermin Horween #8 Shell Cordovan Wholecut Chelsea Boots in Chained Norwegian Construction 

The unboxing (literally)

It is perhaps safe to say that Meermin is one of the most mis-understood brands in the dress shoe world.

 

“Aren’t they just a Chinese-made line of Carmina?” – from a UK-based dress shoe enthusiast who owns multiple pairs of Corthay bespoke, among other high-end RTWs

 

“One regret though, would be the abusive use of the affiliation with Carmina on the communications side (i.e., tradition-washing).” – The 2014 Ready-to-Wear Men’s Shoes Review, Parisian Gentleman

 

“I don’t like them. They are not an honest company. They want to make people believe that their Heritage shell cordovan is tanned by Horween. In fact, my friend fell victim to this marketing and was seriously upset!” – A US-based shell cordovan expert and blogger

 

While the objective of this article is not to debunk these myths or to defend Meermin, @shirtingfantasy considers it imperative to clarify where justified and possible.

Q1. Are Meermin shoes a sub-label of Carmina?

A1. NO! Meermin and Carmina have totally separate ownership, design and production teams. It is more appropriate to describe them as family rivals.

 

Q2. But Meermin shoes are finished in Spain to get the “Made in Spain” mark, aren’t they?

A2. A decade ago, in 2012, when The Shoe Snob reviewed their shoes (https://theshoesnobblog.com/meermin-mallorca-review-appreciation/), it was already clear that Meermin was clear with their country of production –

 

“What he did was find a workshop/factory in China, went to train them up in order for them to hand-last and hand-welt every shoe in his production. Then once the soles are ready to be put on, they send the shoes back to Spain to have it done on the machines. So in theory, half of the shoe is constructed by hand, but done so in China.”

 

The situation is more clearly explained in this 2019 Stitchdown interview (https://www.stitchdown.com/brands/meermin-shoes-and-boots/interview-with-pepe-albaladejo-stitchdown-conversation/) –

 

“Yes. We come from Mallorca, and we have a factory in Mallorca, but we also have part of our production in China. We send all our materials from Europe and Japan, and also produce the shoes there.”

 

“I’ve been there in China training people for almost 20 years, and I have my factory there. And I’m not just moving to a third party factory who does shoes for everyone else. This factory is just making shoes for us.”

 

“But for me, hand welted, or even Norvegese, it’s something our competitors cannot make. They have to train people. And then, making shoes entirely by hand in a factory, you can’t just make one pair. You have to make batches. And to keep quality stable, on the welting and everything else, it’s not that simple.”

 

Q3. How about Heritage shell? They surely want to mislead people to think that is Horween, and trick people into buying a pair, right?

A3. To be objective and fair, we should perhaps read the product description of Horween and Heritage shell products on the Meermin website.

 

(1) Horween - https://eu.meermin.com/products/101205-dark-cognac-horween-shell-cordovan-e

 

“Horween's Shell Cordovan is one of the most sought-after leathers in the shoemaking industry and that is for a reason—this leather is simply superb. Made following the original recipes & tanning methods at Horween's Tannery in Chicago, IL.”

 

Tannery: Horween (USA)

 

(2) Heritage (Non-Horween) - https://eu.meermin.com/products/116080-burgundy-heritage-shell-cordovan-e-ultraflex-system

 

“This time using the Meermin Exclusive Heritage Shell Cordovan: something really unique that we've been working for a long time until we got it just right. The Classic Shell Cordovan, tanned the traditional way exclusively made for us… we've worked exclusively with American shells—tanned by traditional vegetable tanning expert & family owned tannery, to develop this article exclusively made for Meermin”

 

Tannery: Undisclosed (Exclusive)

 

Seriously, if any buyer could be misled into thinking (2) = (1), or (2) implies (1) – when the price and description are so clearly different – and think s/he got a good bargain on a pair of Horween shell cordovan shoes, then Meermin would probably need to state THIS IS NOT HORWEEN SHELL CORDOVAN in bold red text on every product page which Heritage shell cordovan appears. 

 

Now that we have a bit of understanding about Meermin, we should perhaps proceed to gain a bit of understanding of this special pair. After all, the cost and marked price of this pair – according to our contact – is a new record in Meermin’s history. The estimated MSRP of this model at launch, nominally HKD 7,000 (or EUR 915), is about three to four times the price of a “normal” pair of Meermin.  

 1.    Wholecut chelsea is not the most common chelsea make to come by in the RTW world

 

John Lobb's "Tudor" model: NOT a wholecut (Source: Borghini)

If one examines the many dress shoe brands, wholecut chelsea is not a model they are keen to make. Most makers default to a 3-pc+ pattern, with seams at the sides and also the back. John Lobb’s Prestige chelsea “Tudor” has a 2-pc pattern with a single heel piece – with seams at the sides. Berluti and Corthay both make chelsea boots with side seams for their RTW.

 

Notable exceptions to this cost-saving manufacturing practice (obviously, if the shoe could be clicked from multiple smaller pieces, it would be easier to identify flawless areas and lower the material cost; additionally, whoelcut chelsea requires a tedious blocking step – purportedly not mastered by many factories) include: Gaziano & Girling (Burnham), RM Williams (all chelsea models – although only the signature series could be considered “dressy”), Viberg (yes, they do make chelsea boots), JM Weston (finally we have a French maker) and the Spanish makers TLB and Carmina. 

 

It must be added that John Lobb has finally launched a wholecut chelsea model in their Prestige line (2022), known as the “Kensington”.

 

2.    Shell cordovan wholecut chelseas are expensive and difficult to make

 

Rarely do we see such a leap of difficulty index. Going from calf wholecut chelseas (some handfuls of makers) to shell wholecut chelseas (some SF fellows call them “shellseas”), you are left with… no RTW maker.

 

A simple Google search would reveal that shell cordovan wholecut chelsea (and also oxford boots and jodhpur boots) were actually made by a certain Spanish maker in the past – however, due to difficulties encountered in the production process, these orders were later declined. 

 

When @shirtingfantasy nudged Maestro Meccariello to make him Horween bourbon shell wholecut chelseas, the Maestro actually called up another old Maestro (another respected name in Italian handmade shoes) and got the following advice:

 

“Good luck. If you are careful maybe you will break only 1 in 3.”

 

3.    Chained Norwegian (Tirolese, Tyrolese) shell cordovan wholecut chelseas are hard to come by

 

Just when @shirtingfantasy considered the bourbon shell chelseas from Maestro Meccariello a statement piece in his collection – after all, it took customer-supplied XL shells and 1.5 years of wait – an evil thought grew in him: how about a more Italian style, with elaborate handmade stitching construction e.g. linear or chained Norwegian?

 

Maestro Meccariello, after the painful experience of making the bourbon pair (he lost one XXL natural shell in his personal collection in testing the lasting process for the bourbon shells @shirtingfantasy supplied), was in refractory period and reluctant to do more wholecut “shellseas” for a while. Gaziano & Girling was willing to take up wholecut “shellsea” orders, but the surcharge would be GBP 800 even with standard Goodyear construction. The additional requirement of Norwegian (linear or chained) construction has practically excluded most British and Spanish makers from even the MTO list. 

 

Meermin came to our rescue. Widely regarded as an “entry-level” brand, they are perhaps the last name to expect when an enthusiast contemplates such a technically demanding and costly model. A quote from Wilde comes to mind –

 

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing”

 

Information is not perfect. The price of goods is not solely determined by production cost or objectively measurable qualities of the product. In the rather muddled world of sartorialism, where opinions are taken as facts; urban legends creep into official product descriptions; and the MSRP seems to offer guidance when clueless consumers are navigating the sea of quality, the importance of understanding provenance, authenticity, and production cannot be overstated. 

 

It is important to let the shoes and their making process speak for themselves. As with most reviews, I will also try to examine the good and bad of the pair.

THE GOOD

1. The one-piece wholecut upper pattern, without even an extra strip at the back – very cool

2. Nicely done Tirolese (chained Norwegian) stitching; the contrast colour thread is a very “Italian” touch

3. Rubber lug sole that is practically non-slip

THE BAD

1. The lining is (understandably) not one-piece and has an unwanted seam along the mid-ridge of the boots. This could be a point of discomfort to some sensitive feet.

2. Meermin currently does not offer a resole service.

3. The shell cordovan is not acrylic protected. Some people could find the watermark after contact with rain or mud annoying.

THE UGLY

1.    The stitch density on the lining could be enhanced. Stitching should not be skimmed on where it cannot be seen.

Meermin 

www.meermin.es

Minimum order: 1 pair of shoes

Price range: HKD 1,500+ for basic Goodyear-welted shoes, HKD 2,300+ for "Heritage" shell cordovan, HKD 2,400+ for handwelted shoes with JR sole, HKD 3,500+ for Norvegese / Norwegian stitched shoes

Handmade option: What is not done by machine is by hand

也許可以肯定地說，Meermin 是正裝鞋界最容易被誤解的品牌之一。

“他們不僅僅是 Carmina 的中國製造子品牌嗎？” - 一位來自英國的正裝鞋愛好者，擁有多雙 Corthay 定制鞋款，以及其他高端 RTW 產品

“唯一的遺憾是，他們在交流方面濫用與 Carmina 的聯繫（即，傳統洗滌）。” - 2014 年巴黎紳士成衣男鞋評論

“我不喜歡他們。他們不是一家誠實的公司。他們想讓人們相信他們的 Heritage Shell Cordovan 是由 Horween 鞣製的。實際上，我的朋友被這個營銷手法欺騙，非常沮喪！” - 一位美國 shell cordovan 專家和博主

儘管本文的目的不是破解這些神話或捍衛 Meermin，但 @shirtingfantasy 認為有必要澄清正當和可能的情況。

Q1. Meermin 鞋子是 Carmina 的子品牌嗎？

A1. 不！Meermin 和 Carmina 有完全獨立的所有權、設計和生產團隊。更適當地將它們描述為家族競爭對手。

Q2. 但 Meermin 鞋子是在西班牙完成的，以獲得“西班牙製造”標誌，對吧？

A2. 十年前，在 2012 年，當 The Shoe Snob 評論他們的鞋子時（https://theshoesnobblog.com/meermin-mallorca-review-appreciation/），已經很清楚地說明了 Meermin 會明確表示他們的生產國家 -

“他做的是在中國找到一個工作室/工廠，去培訓他們，以便他們能夠手工製作他的產品。然後在鞋底准備好後，他們把鞋子送回西班牙，用機器完成。所以理論上，鞋子的一半是手工製作的，但在中國完成。”

這種情況在 2019 年的 Stitchdown 採訪中更清晰地解釋了 -

“是的，我們來自馬略卡島，我們在馬略卡島有一家工廠，但我們的部分產品也在中國生產。我們將所有來自歐洲和日本的材料運送到那裡，並在那裡生產鞋子。”

“我在中國培訓人員已經快20年了，我在那裡有我的工廠。而且我不只是將生產轉移到為其他品牌生產鞋子的第三方工廠。這家工廠只為我們製作鞋子。”

“但對我來說，手工縫製或甚至挪威式，是我們的競爭對手無法做到的。他們需要訓練人員。然後，在工廠里完全用手工製作鞋子，你不能只製作一雙。你必須批量生產。要保持品質穩定，無論是縫製還是其他方面，這都不是那麼簡單。”

Q3. 那麼Heritage shell呢？他們肯定想欺騙人們以為那是Horween，讓人們上當購買一雙，對吧？

A3. 為了客觀公正，我們或許應該閱讀一下Meermin網站上Horween和Heritage shell產品的產品描述。

（1）Horween - https://eu.meermin.com/products/101205-dark-cognac-horween-shell-cordovan-e

“Horween的Shell Cordovan是制鞋行業最受追捧的皮革之一，這是有原因的——這種皮革簡直太棒了。這款皮革是在位於芝加哥的Horween皮革廠按照原始配方和鞣制方法製作的。”

（2）Heritage（非Horween） - https://eu.meermin.com/products/116080-burgundy-heritage-shell-cordovan-e-ultraflex-system

“這次我們使用了Meermin獨家的Heritage Shell Cordovan：這是我們經過長時間努力才成功研發出的獨特產品。經典的Shell Cordovan，經過傳統的植鞣法製作，僅為Meermin獨家定制...我們與一家專業植鞣技術且為家族企業的美國皮革廠合作，專門為Meermin研發了這款產品。”

說真的，如果有買家會被誤導認為（2）=（1）或者（2）暗示了（1）——當價格和描述如此明顯不同的時候——並且認為他/她在一雙Horween shell cordovan鞋上買了個便宜，那麼Meermin可能需要在每個Heritage shell cordovan出現的產品頁面上用大紅字寫上這不是Horween shell cordovan。

既然我們對Meermin有了一些了解，那麼我們也許應該繼續了解一下這款特別的鞋子。畢竟，根據我們的聯繫人，這款鞋子的成本和標價在Meermin的歷史上創下了新紀錄。據估計，這款鞋子的建議零售價在推出時為7,000港元（或915歐元），大約是一雙“普通”Meermin鞋子的三到四倍。

(1) 整皮切爾西在成衣世界中不是最常見的切爾西款式

如果觀察眾多的正裝鞋品牌，整皮切爾西並非他們熱衷生產的款式。大多數品牌製作的切爾西都是3件式+圖案，側縫和後縫。John Lobb 的 Prestige 切爾西 “Tudor” 是2件式，帶有一個後跟塊，側縫。Berluti 和 Corthay 的成衣切爾西都帶有側縫。

值得注意的例外（顯然，如果鞋子可以從多個較小的部分中挑選，就更容易找到無瑕疵的區域，降低材料成本；此外，整皮切爾西需要繁瑣的塑形步驟，據說許多工廠無法掌握）包括：Gaziano & Girling（Burnham）、RM Williams（所有切爾西款式 - 儘管只有簽名系列可以認為是“正裝”）、Viberg（是的，他們確實生產切爾西）、JM Weston（終於有一個法國製造商）以及西班牙製造商 TLB 和 Carmina。

必須補充的是，John Lobb 最終在他們的 Prestige 系列（2022年）推出了一款名為“Kensington”的整皮切爾西。

(2) 馬臀皮鞋面整皮切爾西昂貴且製作困難

我們很少看到這樣的難度指數跳躍。從小牛皮整皮切爾西（一些少量的製造商）到馬臀皮鞋面整皮切爾西（一些 SF 成員稱之為“shellseas”），您將得到...沒有成衣製造商。

一個簡單的谷歌搜索將揭示，過去曾有一家西班牙製造商製作過馬臀皮鞋面整皮切爾西（以及牛津靴和小馬皮靴） - 但是，由於生產過程中遇到的困難，這些訂單後來被拒絕。

當 @shirtingfantasy 敦促 Maestro Meccariello 為他製作 Horween 波本馬臀皮整皮切爾西時，大師實際上打電話給了另一位老大師（意大利手工鞋中另一個受人尊敬的名字），並得到了以下建議：

“祝你好運。如果你小心的話，也許你只會弄壞3分之1。”

(3) 鏈式挪威（Tirolese，Tyrolese）馬臀皮鞋面整皮切爾西很難找到

正當 @shirtingfantasy 考慮將 Maestro Meccariello 製作的波本馬臀皮切爾西視為他收藏中的一個標誌性作品時 - 畢竟，這需要客戶提供的 XL 馬臀皮，並等待了1.5年 - 他心中滋生了一個邪惡的念頭：如何將這種款式變得更加意大利化，加入精緻的手工縫製結構，例如線性或鏈式挪威？

在為 @shirtingfantasy 製作波本切爾西的痛苦經歷之後（他在為 @shirtingfantasy 提供的波本馬臀皮測試成型過程中失去了一塊 XXL 自然馬臀皮），Maestro Meccariello 在一段時間內不願再製作更多整皮“shellseas”。Gaziano & Girling 願意接受整皮“shellsea”訂單，但即使是標準的 Goodyear 結構，附加費用也將是英鎊 800。挪威（線性或鏈式）結構的額外要求實際上已經將大多數英國和西班牙製造商排除在 MTO 名單之外。

Meermin 挽救了我們。作為廣泛認為的“入門級”品牌，他們可能是當愛好者考慮如此技術要求高且昂貴的款式時最後想到的品牌。懷爾德的一句名言浮現在腦海中 -

“如今，人們知道一切的價格，卻不知道任何東西的價值”

信息並不完美。商品的價格不僅由生產成本或客觀可衡量的產品品質決定。在相當混亂的時尚世界中，觀點被當作事實；城市傳說潛入官方產品描述；建議零售價在無所作為的消費者在品質之海中航行時提供指導，了解產地、真實性和生產的重要性無法高估。

重要的是讓鞋子及其製作過程自己說話。和大多數評論一樣，我也將努力檢查這對鞋子的優缺點。

優點：

1. 一體成型的鞋面，沒有額外的條紋在背面——非常酷

2. 做工精細的Tirolese（鏈式挪威）縫合；對比色的線是非常“意大利”的風格

3. 實用的橡膠凸點鞋底，幾乎不滑

缺點：

1. 鞋內裡（可以理解的）不是一體成型的，並且在靴子的中央脊梁上有一個不需要的接縫。對於一些敏感的腳來說，這可能會讓人感到不舒適。

2. Meermin目前不提供換底服務。

3. 馬臀皮沒有丙烯酸保護。有些人可能會對雨水或泥濘接觸後的水印感到困擾。

不足之處：

1. 鞋內裡的縫合密度可以提高。在看不見的地方不應該省略縫合。