Overview
To introduce AQUILA®, a Singapore home grown brand, as well as to inform on the idea of “bespoke shoes”.
Aquila
First, I’ll let some photos do the talking.
Established 1978
Aquila is a mid range shoe brand that focuses on hand welted shoes with full leather soles. She is a fashion brand with its own manufactory that first made its presence in 1978, supplying gents leather goods and apparel to well known department stores such as Robinson’s and John Little.
Aquila has since evolved to retail directly to the market, occupying a unique position as belt tailors, all while providing bespoke shoe services and custom gents bags and accessories such as crocodile bags and wallets.
To bespoke or not
“Bespoke shoes”, all at once, seemingly expresses an exciting yet insurmountable tier of self expression à la consumerism. However with Aquila, it need not be expensive.
Aquila offers three tiers of shoe services:
- Made to order:
- run of the mill shoe designs such double monk straps, oxfords, loafers as well
- basic colours such as black, brown, tan, navy blue etc.
- hand welted with full leather soles
- flat SGD 600.00 (at time of writing)
- Custom shoes:
- shoe designs based off of screenshots from the web
- choice of leather textures or genuine exotic leather
- dual colours or multi tones etc
- hand welted with full leather soles
- SGD 900.00 onwards (at time of writing)
- Bespoke shoes:
- all of the above
- with your own hand cut shoe last
- SGD 1200.00 onwards (at time of writing)
Herein lies the golden question of whether to have a bespoke pair of shoes tailored to oneself. In my honest opinion, it is unnecessary. Cutting away the marketing pomp, “bespoke” implies comfort, as a pair of wood shoe lasts is cut to the shape of customers’ feet.
Most gentlemen have had their feet at trying on shoes at shoe shops, whether those experiences be at department stores, or wholesale outlets, or flea markets etc.
More often than not, the outcome is at worse a reasonably comfortable pair of shoes relative to price. Indeed, price is a function of comfort too.
Therefore, a pair of Aquila Made to Order shoes more than suffices to fulfill a slightly elevated objective of self fulfilment and perhaps of celebrating an important milestone in one’s career etc. For the fun loving, or maximalists like myself, the second option allows one to express themselves fully with colour choices and leather options, cut to standard shoe last sizes, E and double E sizes for wide feet.
However, if one is accustomed to top tier branded goods on a regular basis, he can consider the bespoke services.
Lifestyle bespoke & functional bespoke
At this point, I make a distinction between lifestyle bespoke and functional bespoke.
Lifestyle bespoke is about luxury, service and environment that are over and beyond the product. As such, prices are likely prohibitive.
Yet, bespoke is also necessary for gentlemen, whom are afflicted with two different foot sizes by a large margin, and whom are equally deserving of a pretty pair of dress shoes like everyone else. In such circumstance, Aquila’s bespoke services is most definitely for them. At SGD $1200.00 to solve a real (functional) problem, it isn’t expensive.
Matching shoes & belt
One final note before I conclude, on top of bespoke shoes, there is also the option of purchasing a matching belt to pair up with the shoes customised for their customers. For example, if it is a pair of suede shoes, the suede belt will be cut from the same cow hide. If it is a pair of patina leather shoes, the shoes and belt will be dyed at the same time to ensure likeness in colour.
See also
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Keching 