Originally Posted by chogall
There are two types of bespoke makers.
Craftsmen who know how to make a pair of shoes but have no clue why they need to do things a certain way besides their skill based training.
And there are bespoke makers armed with knowledge why certain things are/have to be done in certain ways.
Former describes the UK shoemaking industries and latter describes the German/Mittleuropa shoemaking training.
I presume you are referring to the Knöfel Equator
which runs right through Europe.
Robert Knöfel (1834-1884) was a shoemaker and teacher from Saxony who later settled in Vienna. He developed a ‘scientific’ method of last-making and shoe design, based on measurements (of the foot, not the last) and strictly defined angles; known in German as the ‘Winkelsystem’.
This is the tool needed, a ‘Modellwinkel’
As you can see it’s pretty prescriptive, everything is strictly defined: resulting in designs with a low vamp point and a low-slung top-line. I suppose, if one has the cojones
, you can override it, but it appears to me everybody (who subscribes to Knöfel) treats it like Holy Scripture. (Apparently it is the same with German tailors, they subscribe to one or the other 'Cutting-System', while elsewhere tailors cut according to gut feeling and experience.)
English, French and Italians treat last and shoe design far more empirical and free. They also base their patternmaking on the last. The result counts, not the underlying theory.
I haven’t had great success with the two lasts I have lying around somewhere in Vienna and which I do not want to re-visit. What good is a ‘scientific’ method if it doesn't fit to my liking, even if Mr Knöfel says that’s the way it ought to be?The proof of the pudding is in the eating!