Lazuli

Lazuli

Cobalt No.12 · Hand-lacquered high-top
i.

Twelve coats of blue.

Every pair is lacquered by hand, dried for a day, then lacquered again. Twelve times, until the leather stops looking like leather.

ii.

Then it walks out of the dark.

Made for rooms with one light in them. Cobalt swallows the shadows and throws the light back.

iii.

Cut, stitched, laced by hand.

Thirty-eight steps between the hide and the box. Not one of them is done by a machine that cannot see the shine.

iv.

Made to be seen moving.

Patent creases into light, not lines. The more you walk in it, the more it catches.

v.

Cobalt No.12.

A cast gilt crest on the tongue, a sole dyed to match. Four hundred pairs a year.

The idea

A shoe finished the way a lacquer box is finished: slowly, by hand, and far past the point of reason.

Blue is the hardest colour to wear loudly. So we lacquered it twelve times, until it stopped being a colour and started being a mirror.

Anatomy of a shine

Four parts, each made by a different pair of hands in the same room in Porto.

Close-up of cobalt patent leather reflecting a sharp white highlight along the eyelets Cobalt flat laces crossing through gunmetal eyelets, the side stamped with the maker's line The high-top in profile under blue light, a gilt panther crest cast on the tongue The cobalt cupsole and toe of the shoe on grey concrete 01 · The upper
  1. 01

    The upper

    Full-grain calf, sealed and lacquered twelve times. Each coat is sanded back by hand before the next one goes on, which is why the reflection never wobbles.

    Coats
    12, hand-applied
    Cure
    24 hours between each
  2. 02

    The laces

    Flat waxed cotton, dyed in the same bath as the upper so the blue never argues with itself. Seven gunmetal eyelets, set by hand.

    Eyelets
    7 per side, gunmetal
    Lace
    Waxed cotton, 120 cm
  3. 03

    The crest

    A panther head, cast in brass, gilded, and riveted through the tongue. It is the only thing on the shoe that is not blue.

    Metal
    Cast brass, 18k gilt
    Weight
    11 grams
  4. 04

    The sole

    A stitched rubber cupsole dyed to the upper. From the floor up, the shoe is one colour: no white line to break the shape.

    Sole
    Stitched rubber cupsole
    Resole
    Free, for life
Seen moving

One light. One walk.

We shot No.12 the way it wants to be worn: in the dark, with one lamp, walking toward you.

A man in black stepping out of shadow in cobalt high-tops
Arrival00:03
Full-length shot of the wearer standing in a concrete corridor
Stance00:04
The glossy toe cap reflecting soft grey light
Toe cap00:05
Mid-stride, both cobalt shoes catching the light on a wet concrete floor
Stride00:07
The shoe in profile with the gilt crest lit from the side
No.1200:09

What goes into one pair

12coats of lacquer, each sanded back by hand
38steps between the hide and the box
400pairs a year, numbered inside the heel
11gof cast, gilded brass on the tongue
LAZULI No.12 in profile, cobalt patent with a gilt crest
Autumn allocation

Reserve a pair

Pairs are made to order and leave Porto in six weeks. Choose a size and we will write to confirm the allocation before anything is charged.

Size (EU)
Reserve No.12 €690 · Free resoling for life