CNBC Business | Well-Polished Act

Well-Polished Act

Boyd Farrow checks out the latest player in the high-quality footwear market

“Opening this place was the only way I could afford to buy the shoes I wanted to wear,” says Nathan M Brown, a laconic Oregon-born entrepreneur, proudly holding up an exquisitely dyed, whole-cut Rosso Diablo as shiny and sleek as an Alfa 8C Spider. But “this place” isn’t some pricey outpost on the frontier trail. It is on a cut-through between Savile Row and Bond Street, in London’s most well-heeled shopping area and one hardly lacking gentlemen’s shoe shops. And yet, walking into Lodger, you feel that not only is this a terrific addition to the area, it is one of the most essential shops in the city.  

Brown, with his “irrational passion” for mens shoes has created the most perfectly curated collection of them — split into English Classic, English Contemporary, and Italian Contemporary. The cheapest pair, an English Classic Jean Last, costs €420; the most expensive, an Italian contemporary, is €610. Each collection has a distinct look and is designed to suit a different style, as illustrated by the infuriatingly attractive “How To Wear It” section on the company’s website. More tantalisingly, each month Lodger releases two new Shoes of the Month that are available for one month only. Each order is custom-fit, a process which starts out with a 3D laser scan to build a virtual model of each foot. The customer’s name is hand-written inside and shoes are delivered to any address around the world two months after the order is placed. So far, February’s desert boots have been the most popular, selling 36 pairs. So popular, in fact, that a similar pair will soon be added to the ready to wear collection — but in a different colour.  

“We prefer building personal relationships with our customers to simply selling shoes,” says Brown, stroking a piece of German-sourced leather lining that even the most demanding of customers would never notice but which, he claims, will help the pair last forever. All shoes come with a shoe tree, made from the same last, and a shoe bag, made from environmentally friendly bamboo, with a photo tag of the enclosed footwear attached. This final detail may prove useful for the time-strapped if Lodger’s future models are as covetable as the current line. www.lodgerfootwear.com