
Crockett & Jones’ Ode to the Process
By deftly merging time-honoured techniques with cutting-edge design sensibilities, the Crockett & Jones’ 140th Collection is a heartfelt, heritage-inflected celebration of the story so far
words by Will HALBERT

They say that to truly understand someone, you have to walk a mile in their shoes. To walk a mile in another’s shoes – after all – is to understand the challenges they’ve faced, the storms they’ve weathered, and the obstacles they’ve overcome.
To walk a mile in a pair of Crockett & Jones shoes specifically is to celebrate the family-owned brand’s unparalleled heritage, to marvel at its century-old processes, and to revel in its 140 years of excellence. It is also, ultimately, to walk around in a damn fine pair of shoes. And by all accounts and standards, shoes don’t come much finer than Crockett & Jones’ 140th Anniversary Collection.
A carefully-curated trio of styles, the 140th Collection offers a ground-up celebration of just what it is that the Northampton lodestars do best: create timeless shoes with a contemporary edge that honour age-old traditions.
The Perry, for instance, offers a sleek and sophisticated Oxford style for the modern man. A sartorial stalwart brought right up to speed, the Perry shoe is both a testament to the brand’s eye for detail and a celebration of its rich back catalogue. Inspired by a deep dive into the Crockett & Jones archives, the Perry boasts a classic, 1920s swan neck design. The added pop of pebbled, Willow Grain leather against the smoother, sleeker Black Calf creates a textured, nuanced shoe for the discerning gentleman.
Flexing its more casual credentials, the Magee offers a slick, streets-of-London-ready style with sprezzatura to spare. The laceless construction and added side gussets make for an easy on, easy off nonchalance that nevertheless retains a certain, authoritative appeal. Antique Calf uppers and hand-stitched, Willow Grain, gusseted sides make for a stripped-back, versatile shoe that feels just as at home in the boardroom as the beer hall.

And for the dandies, the boulevardiers and the general men about town, there’s the Turner. A single strapped, wing-capped, demi-boot boasting a two leather combination. A pin-punched, willow grain strap sits atop a hand-polished, antique calf leather to provide a tonal and textural flourish as refined as the boot itself. A single, handmade and polished buckle and Rendenbach leather sole add further class and clout to an already immaculate boot.
In honour of the benchmark collection, each of the three styles is cut in limited numbers of 140 pairs, and each is constructed around the all-new Crockett & Jones 140 Last. If the Crockett & Jones 140th Collection is the work of art (and we defy anyone to suggest that it isn’t), then the 140 Last is best considered the canvas upon which that art shines. Itself a wonderful visual metaphor of Crockett & Jones’ iterative, accept-no-substitutes, ready-when-it’s-ready approach to the craft, Last 140 was the result of months of model making, sampling and test fitting before becoming the very foundations of the 140th Collection.
Almost a century and a half has passed since Charles Jones and Sir James Crockett joined forces to create what is now regarded as one of the finest shoemakers in the world. The Crockett & Jones 140th Collection is both a fond look back at that fateful meeting and a bold step forward into a new era of British shoemaking. Walking a mile in any of these shoes is to join Crockett & Jones on that very same journey. Available this October. EJ
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