“For this shoe, we still apply the colour variations in our production plant by hand. One might think that this should be fairly easy for a pair of black shoes. But that’s not always the case. Precisely because you can’t add more character using colour effects on a black shoe, the type of material and finishing treatment become even more important. The right type of glossiness, the fineness of the leather’s texture (pores, hairline), the thickness of the leather, the right tanning, and the calf’s age are crucial aspects when it comes to black shoes. Apart from buying the right materials, treating the black leather in our ‘finishing department’ plays a very important role. For instance, we use something similar to a mini clothes iron to smooth out the shoe’s leather. The heat generated by the iron causes the leather fibre to contract and the grain closes a little bit which creates a beautiful, silky shine. Depending on the type of leather, our finishing department is also equipped with a hot air cannon, a flame thrower, various kinds of waxing and grinding brushes, a spraying booth and polishing rags in order to make the greatest black pair of shoes there is.”