Pierre CORTHAY, shoes in his skin
The shoemaker's profession is not a profession. But more of a passion. A time-consuming passion, a difficult passion as the practice of custom-made products is close to art. Pierre Corthay is one of the last great shoemakers in the world, the only one in France who has been able to transform his passion into a profitable and independent company, known and recognized internationally, employing around fifty people in France and having points of sale abroad.
Becoming a shoemaker involves the journeymanship, the noble circuit of artistic craftsmanship which consists of touring France literally and figuratively to perfect one's experience in workshops for a year. Pierre's journey began at the age of 16 and lasted 7 years. He discovered the world of shoemaking, podiatry, and shoe repair. He spent all his summers with a renowned old shoemaker in Brittany. He worked there without being paid, with room and board being enough, to acquire knowledge from years of experience. Then he became the first journeyman in 50 years to join John Lobb in 1984. He stayed there for more than a year before being spotted by Berluti, who was looking to replace his bespoke workshop manager who was close to retirement; a great man who had been Roger Vivier's patternmaker for 20 years. Passing on know-how again and again. Pierre Corthay then decided in the early 1990s to take the plunge and launch his own custom shoemaking brand with the eponymous name. He chose the small boutique on Rue Volney in the 1st arrondissement, close to Place Vendôme, taking it over without a penny in his pocket. He offered to sign 5 years of interest-free promissory notes to the owner who accepted. A risky bet, but his all-consuming passion and desire to do things won out. The contracts started with a line of custom shoes for Lanvin and then Dior. It was not until an article in the Herald Tribune written by the queen of British fashion, Susy Menkes, that the brand took off. This article led to the emissary of the Sultan of Brunei opening the door of his boutique, who ordered 140 pairs of custom shoes! Two and a half years of guaranteed work, allowing him to hire and store merchandise. In 2001, the same scenario allowed him to launch a ready-to-wear line in his own workshop. An American client in custom-made had just opened a very exclusive golf club in the Hamptons. He wanted to be able to offer his first members a pair of shoes. He ordered 60 pairs and paid cash. The Neuilly-Plaisance workshop then came to life. 2010 would be a pivotal year for the brand. The arrival of Xavier de Royère, ex-LVMH, in the adventure would ensure the international development of the brand and the relocation of the PAP workshop to Beaupréau, in the heart of the Cholet region, the shoe capital of France.
When you choose the path of shoemaking, several professions are available to the enthusiast: that of a last maker who takes the measurements of the foot allowing the manufacture of the wooden lasts. That of a pattern maker who draws the chosen model with the customer and makes the cardboard serving as a template for cutting the selected leather. That of a fitter who will assemble the cut leathers on the last (it will take at least 20 hours of work) and give shape to the shoe. The big houses operate in this way by type of position. Pierre has the advantage of having learned everything. When he started, he was alone and he had to work all the steps himself. Today, those who share his workshop on rue Volney are all versatile specialists, faithful to the Corthay spirit. A craftsman's profession far from digital technologies. "Some have tried to make 3D footprints using machines, it was a failure! Nothing replaces the hand and the eye." insists Pierre Corthay who sees his profession as an exchange between two individuals. The customer with his fears and desires, the shoemaker with his experience, his analysis and his creative madness. The shoemaker touches, feels, listens, looks at his customer's feet but not only that. He transforms the individual's appearance into a product to wear. This is what Pierre Corthay would like to teach young people in schools tomorrow. More than a technique, a feeling, a transversal feeling of the man who wishes to possess a custom-made creation that resembles him.
Becoming a shoemaker involves the journeymanship, the noble circuit of artistic craftsmanship which consists of touring France literally and figuratively to perfect one's experience in workshops for a year. Pierre's journey began at the age of 16 and lasted 7 years. He discovered the world of shoemaking, podiatry, and shoe repair. He spent all his summers with a renowned old shoemaker in Brittany. He worked there without being paid, with room and board being enough, to acquire knowledge from years of experience. Then he became the first journeyman in 50 years to join John Lobb in 1984. He stayed there for more than a year before being spotted by Berluti, who was looking to replace his bespoke workshop manager who was close to retirement; a great man who had been Roger Vivier's patternmaker for 20 years. Passing on know-how again and again. Pierre Corthay then decided in the early 1990s to take the plunge and launch his own custom shoemaking brand with the eponymous name. He chose the small boutique on Rue Volney in the 1st arrondissement, close to Place Vendôme, taking it over without a penny in his pocket. He offered to sign 5 years of interest-free promissory notes to the owner who accepted. A risky bet, but his all-consuming passion and desire to do things won out. The contracts started with a line of custom shoes for Lanvin and then Dior. It was not until an article in the Herald Tribune written by the queen of British fashion, Susy Menkes, that the brand took off. This article led to the emissary of the Sultan of Brunei opening the door of his boutique, who ordered 140 pairs of custom shoes! Two and a half years of guaranteed work, allowing him to hire and store merchandise. In 2001, the same scenario allowed him to launch a ready-to-wear line in his own workshop. An American client in custom-made had just opened a very exclusive golf club in the Hamptons. He wanted to be able to offer his first members a pair of shoes. He ordered 60 pairs and paid cash. The Neuilly-Plaisance workshop then came to life. 2010 would be a pivotal year for the brand. The arrival of Xavier de Royère, ex-LVMH, in the adventure would ensure the international development of the brand and the relocation of the PAP workshop to Beaupréau, in the heart of the Cholet region, the shoe capital of France.
When you choose the path of shoemaking, several professions are available to the enthusiast: that of a last maker who takes the measurements of the foot allowing the manufacture of the wooden lasts. That of a pattern maker who draws the chosen model with the customer and makes the cardboard serving as a template for cutting the selected leather. That of a fitter who will assemble the cut leathers on the last (it will take at least 20 hours of work) and give shape to the shoe. The big houses operate in this way by type of position. Pierre has the advantage of having learned everything. When he started, he was alone and he had to work all the steps himself. Today, those who share his workshop on rue Volney are all versatile specialists, faithful to the Corthay spirit. A craftsman's profession far from digital technologies. "Some have tried to make 3D footprints using machines, it was a failure! Nothing replaces the hand and the eye." insists Pierre Corthay who sees his profession as an exchange between two individuals. The customer with his fears and desires, the shoemaker with his experience, his analysis and his creative madness. The shoemaker touches, feels, listens, looks at his customer's feet but not only that. He transforms the individual's appearance into a product to wear. This is what Pierre Corthay would like to teach young people in schools tomorrow. More than a technique, a feeling, a transversal feeling of the man who wishes to possess a custom-made creation that resembles him.
Anything is possible in custom-made. Like the shoes of Jacques-Antoine Grangeon, the founder of Vente Privée that he shows off on TV sets; a pair of loafers whose platform is disproportionately too long like clown shoes! The idea came to Pierre when he saw the good nature and charisma of the extraordinary character. His client was won over by this unique approach, he is now on his fifteenth pair of loafers.
Passion has a price, that of the many hours spent creating a unique piece, born from the imagination of a client or that of Pierre; it is necessary to count several thousand euros for a model with a classic leather, a few fittings and many months of waiting. As his grandmother used to say "well shod and well hatted you will go where you want Pierre". You only have to take a look at Corthay's creations to understand that the shoe is a signature. Some break their piggy bank like this French client, a crazy enthusiast who, every year for 7 years, has had a pair of shoes made at Corthay. He is a simple school bus driver...
With the web culture and the return to the first row of men's clothing and in particular to its dandy spirit, the shoemaker's profession is doing well. Few offers on the market and a demand that is growing with the arrival of new international generations. The companions are back, art schools are interested in this profession. But it is always passion that will be the driving force behind this manual adventure, as for fine cuisine, there is no room for approximation.
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