During the last Pitti, I met Antonio Putzolu, the current owner of Barrett, and paid a visit at their booth. Barrett is a company founded in 1917 by John Richardson Barrett, owner of a tannery in the East End of London, who came to Italy during the Grand Tour looking for the perfect pair of shoes. After an interruption due to the World War II, Eliseo Putzolu, Antonio’s grandfather, buys shares of the company and brings it back to pre-war levels, making it a reference point in the high-end shoes industry. One of their loyal customers was the iconic Marcello Mastroianni, in addition to some Presidents of the Italian Republic and world-renowned authors. Today their reference market is Russia but they have a widespread presence in Europe, specifically in Italy with a flagship store on Via Gesù 9, Milan.
Barrett keeps 120 lasts from all those who have been ever made and this habit allows to satisfy also those clients willing to buy a more than 10 year old pair. Collaborators are nearly seventy and the productive capacity is 180 pairs per day, but the digit decreases to nearly eighty if the shoes construction is more complex. “The last comes to light in wood, which is easily alterable to the designer’s needs, and then it’s transferred into plastic” - says Antonio, who specifies how every step of the production is in-house from the cut of the leathers to the assembly of the upper until the honing of the soles made by hand. From loafers to Oxfords, derby, boots and double monks, the collection is complete, with leather going from the nappato and bottalato calfskin to the suede and alligator making for a classy product with contemporary shapes and, over all, comfortable fit.
Barrett offers five types of sole construction: Norvegese, Blake-rapid, Goodyear Flex, Tubolare and Bolognese aka “a sacchetto”, which is the jewel of the company’s crown. And it is just the type of construction that draws my attention during the interview: it confers a unique softness to the shoe yet does not deprive it of its structure: the lining is a piece of leather that covers the whole foot, also the sole as if it was a sacchetto (a bag). In the shoes with this construction the inner sole makes way to a leather piece stitched to the lining. Curiosity: to spot the sacchetto construction you just need to look inside the shoe: there are two stitchings, one is the Blake between upper and sole and the other, more internal, binds the sole to the lining. Starting price €450, rising to 550 for the sacchetto construction.
Bespoke hugs,
Fabio
