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Styles · An idea under Avant-garde

Horsehide & derbies

Substantial Goodyear welted and hand dyed Italian leather footwear.

Horsehide and derbies means boots and derby shoes in horse leather, the kind Guidi makes in Italy. Its classic back zip boots and derbies are cut from full grain horse leather and built with Goodyear welts, leather soles and stacked leather heels. The colours run from black to sand, white and red.

Guidi began as a tannery in Pescia, in Tuscany, founded in eighteen ninety six by Guido Guidi, Giovanni Rosellini and Gino Ulivo. It still tans leather and has made its own shoes since two thousand four. Each pair is dyed after it is built, in a turning drum, so the whole shoe takes the colour at once, a method called object dyeing.

WDLT117 in Toronto brings Guidi front zip and back zip boots, lace up boots and derbies, for women and men. Heavy boots go with wide trousers, and low derbies with cropped hems.

Common questions

What defines horsehide and derbies in artisanal footwear?
It means boots and derby shoes cut from full grain horse leather. Guidi makes its classic back zip boots and derbies in Italy with Goodyear welts, leather soles and stacked leather heels.
How should one style artisanal derbies and boots?
Balance the heavy leather soles with relaxed wool trousers, dense cotton twill, or raw denim. Cropped hems allow the exposed leather grain and stacked heel profile to show cleanly.
Which designer is known for tumbling leather derbies in dye?
Guidi dyes each pair after it is built, turning the finished shoes in a drum of dye so the whole shoe takes the colour at once. The method is called object dyeing.