Alden x JCrew Ravello with Brass Eyelets “Brassvello” Longwing Bluchers
I am a huge fan of Alden’s amazing offerings in the Longwing Blucher (LWB) styling. Nothing beats the beautiful LWB made out of Horween’s magical Ravello Shell Cordovan. Well, that is nothing except a Ravello LWB topped with Brass Hardware.
This special variant, made back in 2012 for the JCrew Ludlow shop in New York City features the standard features of the LWB being made around the Barrie Last with a Double Leather Sole and Split-Reverse Welt. This shoe features the highly lusted after Antique Edge and has to have one of the most amazing shades of Ravello Shell Cordovan ever produced.
More pictures are available after the break.
Absolutely drool-worthy!
Cigar used to findable (I managed to a few years ago), whiskey is here-and-there (e.g., Crockett & Jones) but Ravello seems just plain unobtainable (at least to citizens like me 😉 Why does Horween not make more, choosing instead to tan other colors?
I just took advantage of Carmina’s “custom weekend” and ordered a pair of burgundy shell LWB’s. Your pics here inspired me to switch-out the blind eyelets for 9mm gold ones.
Love your photos–you have a truly world-class collection!
Thanks Jeff and you are hitting on some of the million dollar questions here!
First, there are limitations on the actual material end. Specifically “Whiskey” and Ravello require a clearer hide in order to tan it in this shade. Although this is often disputed, Alden does do significantly more volume than many of the other brands of the lighter shades. If the other retailers had the same demand, they would struggle to keep up with the demand as well. I do not have specific evidence to back this up, but have heard it from various reputable sources internal and external to Alden (i.e. Horween). The other challenge for Alden is just production capacity. Alden has a limited ability to produce footwear. They could scale up to the current demand, but by staying relatively small, Alden has been able to survive the highs and lows of the economy. When scaling up, you are investing into your capital and incurring significant risk if the economy or demand shrinks. This impacts Alden, because their long standing commitment has always been to their “Catalog Shoes”, or the shoes that you find on their official website. I hope that begins to answer the question that you have posed on the availability challenges that we all experience!
Your new Carmina LWBs sound truly superb and I hope that you enjoy them! Should be a fantastic model and I am glad that I inspired you! #8 / Burgundy and Brass look really nice together!
Thanks much,
Mike