For the past 11 years, Michael T. Nartey has been doing some quality things with quality materials out of Western Norway’s largest city, Bergen. As a bespoke tailor, he’s been known to add a quirky touch to traditional sartorial heritage with elaborate detailing, precise pattern cutting and hands on manufacturing. Most will remember him for the small collection of bags he put out last year in the form of the Office Carrier and Singer Getaway in vegetable tanned, British racing green, ebony and oxblood leathers.
T-Michael has since parlayed its success into footwear with 3 different styles – a derby, chukka and boot – in a variety of different colors, not skimping on the sumptuous leathers. For the 5-hole lace-up derby dubbed the T-Lace, they’ve gone with a Blake construction and full grain vegetable tanned leather inside and out, right down to the leather stitched soles. Blake construction has been passed over outside of Italian circles in favor of a Goodyear welt normally found on American and English shoes and there are pluses and minuses to both. Blake construction involves the shoe’s upper being folded over at the edge and sewn directly onto the sole, allowing for the sole to be cut much closer to the upper, leaving less of a lip and making the shoe sleeker. Goodyear welts by contrast, involve the upper being sewn onto a new ridge of leather before attaching it to the sole which makes the shoe harder wearing and tougher. Not to mention, easier and quicker to resole. In this case, we would argue that it comes to taste. After all, brogues aren’t any more universally loved than its sleeker counterparts – regardless of durability.
The future and what-if’s aside, having not got our hands on the entire collection from T-Michael, first impressions are strong with the T-Lace in terms of quality and design. We’re particularly enthralled with the decision to go two-tone (gray-navy) and the stitched detailing on the interior of the uppers – that are an ode to Nartey’s bespoke background – that carry through into his logo. Having also recently picking up a pair of Grenson brogues, we’ll no doubt be revisiting both in the near future to document and compare their wears.
The T-Michael T-Lace is available here.
The T-Michael T-Lace is available here.
