slow fashion – Herring Shoes Journal

Don’t let shoe care be a thing of the past, featuring Nick Carvell

10 January 2023

I hold my hands up, we like to talk about shoe care. Our blog post Why shoe care really matters, and our most watched YouTube video Polishing shoes part 1 are popular examples. We are passionate about it. It goes hand in hand with our products and we want everyone to get the most out of their shoes and leather products.

So, why are we writing another post about this subject? This is my fault. I was watching the news the other night and there was a segment investigating the apparent decline of people polishing their shoes. I was puzzled as to how this had made the news but they went on to explain that one of the world’s most famous shoe polish manufacturers, Kiwi, is pulling their products from UK shelves. This grabbed my attention, as did the fact they had a friend of Herring Shoes and menswear expert Nick Carvell on there offering his insight.

I decided to get in touch with Nick directly and he was happy to chat to me about this in more detail and answer a couple of questions for us to delve a little deeper into what this means.

Thanks for agreeing to chat with us today Nick, it’s great to catch up again.

We know the decline in people polishing their shoes can be attributed mainly to Covid and working from home, what other factors do you think are involved? Do you worry that there is a generational gap when it comes to traditions such as shoe polishing? Is it our responsibility to make sure the next generation knows how to care for their leather products?

“There are definitely multiple factors at play here, but a key one is the continued breakdown of dress codes which is allowing more men to express their personal style in more situations than ever before. As opposed to, say, our grandfathers’ generations, it’s rare now for a man to have a true distinction between their work and casual wardrobes. Of course, this affects the shoes a man needs at his disposal. If anything, formal shoes are having a resurgence in popularity right now among Millennials and Gen Z – just took at a streetwear label like Aimé Leon Dore that’s currently styling tracksuits with loafers. However, unlike the loafers of previous generations available in black or brown, these traditional formal shoe silhouettes are being reinterpreted in a variety of eye-catching coloured leathers, vegan fabrics, suedes and silks. That’s on top of care for trainers or shoes cut from technical fabrics. I’d say a young man now needs far more skills than their father’s or grandfather’s generation for preserving their shoe wardrobe. That’s where the experts need to step in (pun intended!)”

What do you think 2023 will bring in regards to the public’s dress sense and footwear? Do you anticipate a pick up of slow fashion and in turn more leather products being purchased or are we in for a new wave of ‘fashion’ throwaway items?

“I hope there will be a pickup. Fast fashion and a ravenous trend cycle has definitely warped how a lot of us think about shoes: buy cheap, wear until they fall apart, buy something else. The idea of polishing and caring for shoes to preserve them long term if they’re bought with a short-term mindset can get lost. However, it’s encouraging to see that many of the brands trending with younger people now focus hard on sustainability and good quality materials (not just animal hides, but also more environmentally-friendly man-made fabrics like mushroom leather). The idea of buying less, but buying better is gaining ever more traction in society, and that mindset will necessarily affect the shoe market. Of course, what that doesn’t mean an overnight resurgence in the popularity of uber-trad styles like the double-monk strap or opera pump in the mainstream. Brands are sill going to have to move with the times to offer the silhouettes, colours and materials people want. However, what it does mean, hopefully, is that more shoes are being purchased with a mindset that they are going to be in that person’s wardrobe for a very long time, meaning that person is necessarily more open to the idea of repairing, restoring and preserving those shoes as the years go by, rather than sending them to landfill.”

Cheers Nick, we appreciate your time and look forward to speaking with you again. To find out more about Nick and to sign up to his newsletter (highly recommended), then please click through to his website here

For those of us who still need a good quality polish, don’t worry, we are one of the largest stockists of Saphir polishing products online. We even have our own range of creams available for those who are on a budget, and a superb value valet box Herring cedar valet box with footrest which is currently in the sale.

Our message is simple: Keep caring for your leather shoes and accessories, and keep supporting slow fashion. Shoe polishing should not be banished to the dark ages and it’s our responsibility to make sure we pass on the knowledge of how to care for our shoes.

Herring Shoes

Eight Excellent Excuses to invest in footwear

29 May 2020

Ever bought something new and find yourself saying you got it in the sale or justifying the purchase because it was cheap? Brits, especially, seem to think a bargain makes a purchase worthwhile, but I would seriously question that.

I am not saying expensive goods are all entirely necessary but buying quality does usually make sense.

Our previous blogs on slow fashion highlighted the green credentials of buying something that is built for longevity or, in the case of our welted shoes, can be repaired many times. However, there are many more justifications to have at the ready when you choose a pair of our shoes or boots.

Introducing our Eight Excellent Excuses to invest in footwear….

Supporting the UK manufacturer
This feels especially important right now with many factories having to close at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. We all want to see these businesses survive. These traditional businesses are at the heart of working communities.

Supporting the skilled worker
The lifeblood of these factories are their skilled workers. Some of our shoes are painstakingly and lovingly made by hand so they deserve a higher price tag. If you have never worn a handmade pair of shoes, you may not understand the difference. The difference is how they feel on your feet; this cannot be replicated by mass factory produced items.

Investing in art
Yes, art. Quality shoes are truly beautiful! They make you stand out for all the right reasons while a scuffed pair of mass-produced shoes will fade into the background. As discussed above, they are designed and made by extremely skilled craftsmen and women…artists in their field. Your support is testament to your support for the retail and fashion artist.

Being kind to the environment
If you are hanging onto your shoes and boots, then you are joining the slow fashion movement, which is an altogether much kinder and greener way to live. Wearable items are clogging up landfill and this must change. I suggest starting with your feet.

Investing in quality materials
This links to the above in that handmade leather shoes feel just great. Our customers often worry they are too tight when they first arrive, but they give in all the right places to mould to your feet in a sweet, joyful way to customise themselves to your shape-de-pied.

If you needed another excuse to buy real leather, then let me remind you that there are leathers and then there are leathers. Cordovan, for example, oozes quality. The tanning process is complex and labour intensive…but the results are, quite frankly, gorgeous… and, more boringly, durable. This makes Cordovan shoes highly covetable, as celebrated in Jerry Tharapos’s recent blog for Herring, Be daring, be dashing, be burgundy.

Saving money
Yep, you heard right. If you divide the cost of your quality footwear across the number of years you own them for, they will work out cheaper than re-buying poor quality shoes every year or every few years. Your return on your investment, or footwear ROI, will repay you for every year you own them. And if you invest in lasted shoes or boots, you will gain extra years of wear as they will be repairable.

Putting a spring in your step
We can literally do this with rubber-soled shoes or boots! However, decent footwear will also give you confidence. If you think about how an uncomfortable pair of shoes can make you feel both down at heel and in the mouth, then consider the opposite effect of a quality equivalent. You will feel taller, skipp-ier and generally more awesome!

Bringing you long-term joy
A cheap, high fashion item is often only good enough for an Instagram post and then it is discarded. That post may have given you a short-term boost of happiness, but the bubble will burst once the initial outing, party, post has ended. A quality item that still looks good and fits well, will give you repeat joy. Every time you on pull on or lace up your quality shoes or boots on your feet, you will feel immense satisfaction for all the reasons above. And who does not need a little bit of joy right now?

Herring Shoes

Herring is taking sustainability seriously

18 February 2020

The news and social media feeds are full of stories and warnings about climate change. Carbon emissions, melting ice caps, deforestation and so on are a reality and Herring has taken steps to ensure it remains a sustainable business.

Our blogs have already discussed the merits of long-lasting products as opposed to the throw-away culture of buying cheap. See Slow fashion for your feet, Repair to extend the life of your shoes and Max McMurdo’s Spread the cost with slow fashion.

Sustainable quality footwear for men made to last — Herring Knightsbridge

Ever since our business was established in 1966, Herring has created high quality footwear that is designed to last. We design some of our footwear with Goodyear welts, which means these shoes and boots can be repaired. These are easily identified on our website thanks to our ‘Repair service’ logo. You can enjoy the comfort of the leather upper that has moulded to your feet but easily replace the sole. This ensures our shoes can be worn for many years.

This is important. We don’t believe in fast fashion; we believe in slow fashion based on quality. In the past 15 years, global clothing production has doubled to meet demand for quick turnaround garments. Garments are often only worthy of a single social media post before they are thrown away or forgotten. More than half of fast fashion items are thrown away in less than a year.

We want our customers to get a good 10 years out of our shoes. We certainly don’t them to be purchased for a single Instagram post!

Aside from quality, there is the practicality of only dealing with factories that use respected European tanneries that are regulated to minimise environmental impact. We have been using 100% recycled cardboard for our shipping containers since 2016 and we use recyclable plastic and only where necessary or where it is the best choice. We also have a large photovoltaic array on our warehouse roof that harvests our lovely Devon sunshine and offsets 100% of our electricity usage.

At the start of this month, we began offsetting the carbon impact of all our shipments. To help us fund this, there is an optional customer contribution at the checkout to help us pay the fees.

Most of our shipments go through DHL and they have a cost per kilo surcharge that they then pay towards green energy, carbon offsetting and other projects. Where other couriers are not able to offer a carbon offset scheme, Herring will instead pledge to pay The Woodland Trust a donation based on the same calculation for all non-DHL shipments.

We estimate our voluntary carbon off-setting levy will be 45 pence at this stage. However, we will adjust this up or down to match the carbon usage as closely as possible. We will publish how much has been contributed by customers and by us when the scheme has been running for a while. Herring is introducing this carbon offset plan this because we believe it is the right thing to do. Some customers will choose not to pay the levy, so this will be a net cost to Herring but one that we think is well worth paying. For those of you that do choose to pay the levy, we hope you will enjoy ma king a difference with us.

Herring Shoes

Spread the cost with slow fashion, by Max McMurdo

5 September 2019

As an artisan, I am interested and inspired by the workmanship that goes into creating a quality product. I like to think of the design, the tools that are used, the sore fingers, the passion, etc., but quality products often come with a price tag.

I admit, my Scottish descent meant I was always looking out for a bargain. I bought cheap stuff that lasted five minutes. I just did not understand the implications of my choices.

I think we should pay twice as much for most things, including our shoes! If you paid £200 for a pair of shoes that would last you 10 years, then that equates to £20 a year. You would be hard pressed to find a pair of shoes for that amount these days…even cheap shoes.

When you the consider the cost to the environment of importing goods into this country and add in the social implications of the underpaid or slave labour used by cheap shoe manufacturers, then £20 a year looks like an even better deal. Sure, those 10 years will inevitably see you pay for new soles or repairs, but when you get them back, they will still fit you like a glove and will be very comfortable as the leather moulds to your individual foot shape.

Slow fashion must be the way forward. Rather than buying something cheap – that will most likely be uncomfortable or made from sweaty materials – we should invest in our craftsmen, our environment, our fellow human beings…and our feet!

Herring’s welted shoes come with a ‘Repair Service’ tag to identify which of their shoes can be sent back to the original manufacturer for repairs. If their owners look after them well, these shoes will last for years and years to come and will be a joy to wear.

Find out more about Max McMurdo in Look Who’s Wearing

Follow Max: @maxreestore

Herring Shoes

Slow fashion for your feet

26 April 2019

A staff member’s pair of Herring Chamberlain, showcasing how they hold up after 5+ years of wear and care.

With so-called fast fashion contributing more to climate change than air and sea travel, Herring Shoes is proud to have been a dedicated supporter of ‘slow fashion’ since our inception in 1966.

Not only do our shoes and boots encapsulate timeless classic styles that rarely go out of fashion, they are made to last.

In the past 15 years, global clothing production has doubled to meet demand for quick turnaround garments. The quick turnaround does not refer to the time they take to make, but rather the time they are worn.

In some cases, a garment is only worthy of single social media post before they are thrown away or forgotten. This has left a trail of predominantly low-cost cast-offs, with more than half of fast fashion items thrown away in less than a year, according to the consultants McKinsey*.

The environmental impact from the microfibres in discarded clothing is significant. Make Fashion Circular revealed greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production totalled 1.2 billion tonnes of CO₂equivalent globally in 2015 ** .

With major clothing and footwear companies currently under scrutiny from an all-party environmental audit committee and a report pending, this is an issue that will hit the headlines again in the coming weeks.

Our loyal customers know that Herring Shoes does not sell clothing or footwear for a few pounds. Our dedication to quality means the urge to simply discard one of our items should be reduced. More than that though, we produce shoes and boots that are designed to last for many years.

Longevity has always been a part of our philosophy. An investment in a pair of Herring Shoes will pay you back with years on your feet wearing comfortable and stylish footwear.

Moreover, our shoes can be repaired, as discussed in our recent blog repair to extend the life of your shoes . This means they can be returned to the original factories they were manufactured in to be professionally restored by highly skilled craftsmen.

Unlike other manufacturers, we want you to hang onto your Herring Shoes. We want you to love them and feel the joy of shoes that have moulded to your feet over time. There is nothing fast about the relationship we want you to have with our shoes. Long may it continue.

* Is fast fashion giving way to the sustainable wardrobe? The Guardian, Dec 2018

** Make Fashion Circular Report, 2017

Browsing Tag: slow fashion

Don’t let shoe care be a thing of the past, featuring Nick Carvell

Eight Excellent Excuses to invest in footwear

Herring is taking sustainability seriously

Spread the cost with slow fashion, by Max McMurdo

Slow fashion for your feet