Pierre Corthay, who made a name for himself as a rising shoemaker in Paris, is now the creative director of a brand that handles a wide range of products from ready-to-wear shoes to leather goods. What is his journey like, and what kind of worldview has he ultimately arrived at?




My entry into this world began when I became interested in leather goods as a child and tried making them myself. When I started researching how leather goods are actually made, I learned about the Companion de Duvoir (a system of artisan training run by a French craftsmen's association, which includes not only shoemakers but also people from various other trades). This was in 1979. However, at that time, there was no one who could teach leather goods to the Companion, so I visited a shoemaker's workshop wondering what to do, and I was struck by the complexity and depth of the craft, as if I had been struck by lightning. From then on, I became completely absorbed in shoemaking.

After spending six and a half years as a companion, I started working as a bespoke shoemaker in Paris. After about a year and a half, Berluti offered me a job in their workshop, replacing the previous craftsman, so I moved there. After working alongside a veteran craftsman for a year, I worked as the chief bespoke shoemaker at Berluti for about five years.

I became independent in 1990. I had always intended to become independent, but at that time, a craftsman who had his atelier at the current location of my shop on Rue Volnay was retiring and asked if I would like to take over the space. However, in 1990, there weren't many people starting bespoke shoemaking businesses, so it was a "bottom of the valley" in terms of timing. I still remember everyone talking about what would happen next as the Gulf War began. Of course, I was anxious, but I thought that if I could get through this period, I would be able to go on forever, so I continued. Then, from the latter half of the 1990s to the 2000s, attention to bespoke shoes gradually began to increase.


The turning point came in 1993 when a bespoke customer ordered a model called "Sergio." That changed everything. Sergio is still available as a ready-to-wear shoe today, but the last we created for Sergio back then became the prototype for the "Begg-aigle" toe shape, which is also an icon of Corthay. At the time, Sergio appeared in magazines alongside John Lobb, Edward Green, and Berluti, and it seemed incredibly fresh.

Once we became somewhat well-known as a bespoke shoe shop, customers and friends started asking us more and more if we offered ready-made shoes. They understood that our shoes were good, but bespoke was simply too expensive. After more than 50 people said that, I began to think that maybe we should offer ready-made shoes. So, in 2000, we started our ready-made shoe line.

Actually, while I was working at Companion, I was doing a little shoe repair. Every time a high-quality ready-made shoe from Italy or England came in for repair, I thought to myself, "Someday I want to do this too. I want to do everything related to shoemaking, from bespoke to ready-made."


Initially, we outsourced production to factories in Italy and other countries, providing them with shoe lasts and patterns. However, due to various inconveniences, we eventually decided to build our own factory and take complete control. In fact, while we were struggling with ready-made shoemaking, we received a large bespoke order for golf shoes for 60 members of a golf club. Using the proceeds from that order as a base, we bought sewing machines and other shoemaking equipment and built our own factory.

But it was tough at first. I thought I knew what I needed to do, but when I actually did it, it was completely different. Of the first 450 pairs of shoes we sent to our directly managed stores in Japan, 200 were returned by the staff because they didn't meet the quality standards. From there, we gradually improved over time, steadily enhancing our skills. Now we are satisfied with both the quality and the production volume.

—What are the characteristics and style of Corte shoes?


That's a difficult question. It's hard to put into words. Personally, I feel that Corte shoes are designed to be worn by a variety of people and on a variety of occasions. Our customers range from lawyers and bankers to artists.

Moreover, I think that style today is a fusion, a blend of various elements. For example, in the world of food, Paris currently has both French bistros and Japanese restaurants, and so on. My favorite restaurant in Paris is a bistro run by a Japanese chef. In the same way, when people wear Corthay shoes, they enjoy mixing them with their own style, truly creating a fusion. Currently, there is a mood among people to take the best parts from various cultures. And I think the result will be something we have never seen before.

Photo: Takao Ohta
Text: Yukihiro Sugawara

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