Au Revoir

Sadly, today was my last day in Paris as I must cut my trip short. Fortunately, the sun was shining after several days of gray, and, after missing several of the people I had planned to see last week, I was able to conduct in-depth interviews with Lorenzo Cifonelli of the great Cifonelli tailoring house as well as Pierre Corthay the bespoke shoemaker. Watch for essays in the coming weeks.

I also visited Berluti, perhaps the iconic Paris shoemaker, but there was little worthwhile to report. The ready to wear shoes have neither construction nor styling to warrant the prices, in my opinion. Instead, let me refer you to Bergdorg Goodman in New York where Corthay's ready to wear line went on sale today.

Corthay's shoes, pictured above, are as Parisian as Berluti but the construction, after Corthay's three years of hard work setting up a plant in Paris, seems as good to me as Gaziano & Girling's MTO shoes. And that's high praise. If you like Corthay's shape, it's as good a machine-made shoe as you're likely to find. I'll be interested to see what Bergdorf asks for a pair.