Sunday walk in Potsdam. Denim jacket, ecru canvas trousers, and a pair I built for myself horse butt leather from an Italian tannery, hand-dyed rust brown, lace-to-toe.
I make bespoke handwelted boots to measure from my workshop in Potsdam. Every last and pattern is made from scratch for the client. Current lead time is around six months. DM for pricing.
Took these out for a walk on Sunday. This is my own pair, built on a last I adjusted custom for me. I don’t post my own builds that often so I figured it was time.
The Last
Same last I use as a base for most of my work, adapted slightly for my own foot. Rounded toe, clean waist, sits somewhere between a work boot and something more refined. The lace-to-toe configuration changes how the boot fits through the instep and gives more adjustability across the vamp, which I wanted for a pair I’d actually be walking in regularly. The toe box is full enough to be comfortable over long distances without losing the shape that makes the boot worth looking at.
The Leather
Upper is horse butt sourced from Conceria Cloe, a small Italian tannery with a single focus: horse leather. They produce shell cordovan, horse avancorpo, and horse culatta, all vegetable tanned in pit using European raw horse hides. The horse butt sits between the culatta and the cordovan layer. It has a tighter fiber structure than most bovine leather, holds its shape well under stress, and develops a patina that goes deep rather than sitting on the surface. The color is a hand-dyed rust brown, built up in layers directly on the unfinished hide. Because there’s no surface coating, the dye goes straight into the fiber and the tonal variation across the surface is real, not printed. That variation deepens over time as the leather wears in and the natural oils come to the surface.
The Construction
Handwelted, holdfast carved directly into the insole. No separate rib, no machine welting. Single piece of leather between the foot and the bottom of the boot. This construction flexes naturally from early on and can be resoled repeatedly without touching the upper. Brass eyelets and rings throughout, not plated they’ll patina alongside the leather. Rubber sole with a rubber heel for grip and longevity.
Rubber sole is from Dr. Sole.
These have some miles on them now and the leather is starting to move in the right direction. The patina on horse butt at this stage is exactly what I expected, slow to start, but the depth is already there.
Lace to toe, made to measure.
Navy vegetable tanned leather, grain and flesh side from the same hide.
I am a bootmaker based in Potsdam, Germany, about 15 minutes from Berlin. I build made to measure boots one pair at a time, everything by hand. This is a recently completed commission for a client in the United States.
The leather
The upper is a single hide from Conceria Lo Stivale in Tuscany, Italy. Lo Stivale is a member of the Consorzio Vera Pelle Italiana, a consortium of Tuscan tanneries founded in 1994 to protect and preserve traditional vegetable tanning methods. The leather is full grain, full vegetable tanned using natural tannins from bark and plants. The process takes months, not hours.
The two tone effect is not two different leathers. It is the same hide used on both sides. The shaft is grain side out, smooth and slightly glossy with a deep navy colour. The vamp is flesh side out, the same leather turned around to expose the corium. The roughout surface is napped, matte, and reads as a cooler blue grey depending on the light. Same hide, same tannery, two completely different visual and tactile surfaces.
This is one of the things I find most interesting about working with high quality full grain vegetable tanned leather. The two sides behave differently, age differently, and take polish and conditioning differently. Over time the roughout vamp will develop its own character completely distinct from the smooth shaft above it.
The construction
The boot is built on a made to measure last, shaped to the client’s foot measurements. The fit is not approximated from a standard size. Every measurement taken, every allowance calculated individually.
The construction is Goodyear welted. The welt runs the full circumference of the boot, stitched through the upper, insole, and welt in one pass. The outsole is then stitched to the welt separately. This means the boot can be resoled multiple times without touching the upper. A well maintained pair built this way can last decades.
The sole
Cream DuraSole Super Grip from Dr. Sole. The cream colour was a deliberate choice to complement the natural leather welt and the overall cool blue tone of the upper. A dark sole would have grounded the boot differently. The cream keeps it light and ties back to the natural leather stack heel visible in the side profile.
The details
Solid brass eyelets throughout. Taupe waxed laces. Natural leather lining and collar, visible at the top of the shaft. White contrast stitching along the seams and welt. The stitching picks up the cream sole and creates a visual line that runs the full length of the boot.
This commission took approximately six months from deposit to delivery, which is standard lead time for my work.
My name is David.
I work alone, which means every pair that leaves my workshop has been touched by the same pair of hands from pattern to last to welt.
No production line, no outsourcing.
These just shipped to the US, made-to-measure.
The leather is vegtan from Lo Stivale in the colour midnight blue.
Made-to-measure means your boots are built to your foot, not a standard size.
Current lead time is around six months.
I work in leather that’s built to last decades, not seasons. The kinds of materials and construction methods that were standard a century ago and are now increasingly rare.
If that’s something you’ve been looking for, DM me. Happy to answer questions.
David.