Inside John Lobb With Kirby Allison

John Lobb on St. James’s Street in London is widely regarded as one of the world’s preeminent bespoke shoemakers. Established in 1849, John Lobb has been discretely crafting bespoke shoes for some of the world’s most powerful and important people for over 150 years. The beautiful and expansive premises currently reside in the center of London’s West End at 9 St. James’s St. Now run by the fifth generation of Lobb family members, John Lobb stands, as it has always done, for extremely high standards in the exacting craft of bespoke shoemaking.

Join Kirby Allison as he steps inside John Lobb and tours the bespoke workshop with family members Jonathan Lobb and Nicholas Lobb. They share their grand grandfather John Lobb’s incredible story of how he founded one of the world’s most important and famous bespoke shoemaking firms and went on to make shoes for Kings, Princes, and other Royals, earning countless Royal Warrants including the current Prince of Wales.

Family member and lastmaker Jonathan Lobb personally takes Kirby’s bespoke measurements before inviting he and his crew downstairs for a rare tour of their expansive basement workshop and glimpse into their centuries-old craft. Lastmakers Emmanuel Kastellis and Teemu-Pekka Leppanen share insights into their trade that has been passed down from lastmaker to lastmaker inside John Lobb for almost 200 years. Bottom maker and repairer Nicholaos Moustakas shares insight into the rare skill of hand welting. We see how hand welting is performed and learn why this is so intrinsically important to a pair of bespoke shoes and allows them to last a lifetime.

The tour culminates in an invitation to step inside Lobb’s famous last vault where they store the wooden lasts every current bespoke customer. Come along with us on this incredible journey reaching back in time to a handmade era of quality, craftsmanship, tradition with one of the world’s best bespoke shoemakers.