THE BEAUTY of a man’s wardrobe lies in how it subtly reveals the passage of time – the way a jacket or a pair of shoes grow into their shape over the years. A man feels good in familiar, well-worn apparel that moulds itself naturally to his irregular shoulder blade or the hardness of his heel.
There’s also an alluring quality to a leather patina, or to the tiny snags in a cloth that only the wearer notices, with his intimate knowledge of a treasured garment. During the Early Modern period, aristocrats took pride in the visible signs of repair on their doublets.
By the early 1800s, this finely executed stitching – reminiscent of the delicate Japanese art of kintsugi – had become a mark of affiliation among fashionable dandies in Paris and London. Patches and darns (inconspicuous or not) allowed a man to stand out for his consummate mastery of a time-honoured custom.
Berluti Rapiécé-Reprisé
Berluti Rapiécé-Reprisé
In 2024, Berluti Editions takes up the story in a new chapter, which pays homage to several centuries of masculine elegance while also, directly referencing the Maison’s archives.
The aim is to make the shoe an extension of the man who wears it; this can be attained through time or through the craft of an excellent shoemaker, as evidenced in the first Berluti Editions capsule.
Rapiécé-Reprisé offers a new take on five emblematic Berluti models, each weaving its own story about the shoes and clothes that men wear. These Équilibre slippers, oxfords, loafers, derbies, monk straps and ankle boots come in versions with or without patching, the better to allow for playing mix’n’match.
Berluti Rapiécé-Reprisé
The most individualised in this masculine wardrobe are surely the Équilibre slippers. Rapiécé- Reprisé reissues its trio, introducing an asymmetry in these shoes: two different versions of the shoe for the right foot and one for the left. Each shoe bears distinctive, meticulously crafted patching, which infuses an understated note of urbane sophistication.
The Rapiécé-Reprisé piece that curves across the shoe’s upper is inset using a turn-and-stitch construction. All these shoes have a sense of weightlessness, thanks to the depth and suppleness of Berluti’s hallmark Venezia leather.
Berluti Rapiécé-Reprisé
A slimline design and straight-edged outsoles result in a highly contemporary profile while still channelling the codes of Rapiécé-Reprisé. All the models in the capsule are made with an elegant Blake construction, which conceals the stitching while giving the shoe unbeatable flexibility.
by Imogen Clark