If you have a spare $2,000 and it's burning through the lining of your pockets quickly, I have a solution. Bontoni! No, it's not the Italian version of Banzai! It's a newly established shoe label.
Each shoe takes 12 weeks to make apparently. This is due the laborious hand crafting techniques employed. Or because they measure the process starting from when the cow is born.
Each Goodyear welted shoe contains 300 stitches. The upper "sleeps" on the last for 25 days to acquire is form exactly. And of course the leather selection is top notch. While it may seem obvious, people often forget that all leathers are not created equally. The leather selection can have a major impact on the price of a pair of shoes made by the same person.
The Bontoni story goes that the label was established a couple of years ago by Lewis Cutillo and Franco Gazzani. A couple of years ago they were working together in pharmaceuticals. Franco would come into work and say they had to start a shoe company because Franco's father was making these awesome shoes for friends and family. They convinced him to sell them commercially and the label was born.
"Bontoni" comes from the French phrase "bon ton" meaning a sophisticated manner or style.
Hopefully they don't get too popular though. Poor dad can only make so many shoes :)
Check them out for yourself on bontoni.com
