Fancy a pair of shoes named after a blues song? You could try The Rattlesnake, The Stormy Monday or The Roadrunner (featured above right). They are the brainchild of ex-advertising man Tim Little who wants to bring modernity to the world of traditional men's shoes. His main objective is simplicity. "I want to do the most simple shoe you could ever see," he says, but in doing so he has got his work cut out for him. His most popular shoe is whole-cut, in other words, made from one single piece of leather which has to be precision cut to leave the finished product with a single seam just behind the heel.
Little opened his shop on the Kings Road in London three months ago, after spending 18 months travelling the country doing research. He uses traditional styles but has designed new lasts (the top bit of the shoe) to give them a modern edge. Instead of a rounded shape, he has given his shoes a chiselled toe which makes them look sleek and slightly pointed. There are eight styles of shoe with variations of colour and shape. In addition, he has developed Six Wax polish, especially created for his shoes, and a shoe tree which will fit any footwear you buy from him exactly, (each tree is made from the last from which the shoes are designed) making them last longer and look as good as new every time you put them onn
Tim Little, 560 Kings Road, London SW6, tel: 0171-736 1999
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