Shoemaking is one of those things I keep hearing Filipinos used to be good at, you know, like…read morerunning the government or a clean election. Humor aside, I never really looked at our country with pride when it came to products that were meant to be worn by my feet.
By the time I was born, the real shoemakers that could've been found in Marakina had lost most of their cred. During my generation, most of us got our shoes from retailers selling shoes from some overseas brand that we believed to be of good quality because they were imported, that last word carries a lot of weight in Filipino culture than most foreigners would probably assume. Eventually, these alleged brilliant shoemakers had gone out of business.
Sapatero, not sure if it's cobbler or shoemaker in English, is this small business that caters to men looking for custom made shoes. They seek to revitalize, if not revive, the shoemaking industry of our country. This Sapatero is in the business of making money & history.
Their service is top notch
You walk into their place of business for a consultation. They'll ask you about what kind of shoe you want, the design, the leather, & practically anything else you want done with your shoe. Questions like foot deformities, conditions, & past medical operations are bound to spring up as well.
You can tell that these people are dedicated & mean serious business by the way they run their operation. Know how cows in Japan are supposedly made to drink beer & massaged in order to keep their meat really soft? I think these guys know their business on that level. Their salesman probably loves shoes to the point that it borders on being his second religion. It should come as no surprise then why they exert so much effort when it comes to quality control.
The cobblers
Their cobblers are finely trained craftsmen. They're typically shoemakers from factories who then went under special training to hone their current skills as well as pick up new ones in the process.
One of the reasons why they haven't expanded isn't because they don't have a big enough market to cater to; there are enough people out there who want their wares. The real problem is that the owner understands that you don't just pick up a random hobo on the street & train him expecting to produce a cobbler who knows his stuff.
Their devotion to each pair of shoe that they make is what they've built their reputation on. Walk into their consultation room & you'll be greeted by this impressive shoe rack decorated with some of the finest pieces of footwear I've seen. In fact, if you didn't know that they were made here I swear that they were made in Europe.
Pricing
The price of custom shoes starts at fifteen thousand. Considering the quality of the craft & the materials, their shoes are a marvelous value for money. I mean, come on people, these are handmade shoes we're talking about & not mass produced stuff that you get off an assembly line.
Price depends largely on the leather that you want to use for your shoe. They have leather from local tanneries, calf leather from France, suede leather from England & some of the finest leathers from Italy. So whether it's a double monk strap or a whole cut oxford, the price of your shoe will be the same. Choice of leather is the sole consideration when it comes to pricing.
The shoe making process
Before the shoes are finished, clients are asked to drop by & see how their shoe is doing. If it's too tight or there's just something off about it, clients are encouraged to voice out their opinion in the design & construction of the shoe.
It's not like you walk in, they take your measurements & off you go to wait for the finished product. They're there with you every step of the way.
The finished product
During my visit, I saw a lot of happy clients walk in & out of their consultation room. You can tell by the look on their faces that they're more than happy to part ways with their money for the shoes that Sapatero delivers. They have this eager look on their face that reminds me of kids, clients are filled with the sort of effervescent joy that fills a child when they open a present realizing what's inside was better than they could have ever hoped for.
Why I love this place
I love Sapatero because you can tell that they're trying to do something different with their business. Emphasis is given to the notion that with the right materials & equipment a Filipino can make something as good, if not better, than their western counterparts.
Their service tries to take the popular notion that Filipino craftsmen are no longer what they used to be & turn that perception in over its head. Excellent service provided from the idea that we can can still improve the local industry. They do something that I wish a lot of Filipino entrepreneurs would do, take a step in the right direction.
Sapatero is the go to place if you're looking for a shoe that's tailor, or in this case cobbler, made just for you.
