Koronya - Ready To Wear
Koronya is a small family run business based in Budapest, Hungary. The first written proof that it existed dates back to 1876 but present owner and master shoemaker Marcell Mrsan had to restart the business from scratch after 40 years of socialism before the Hungarian revolution ravaged all small family businesses. All Marcell had to work with was his knowledge gained from graduating as a shoemaker in 1989 and the memories of his 95 year old grandmother.
Marcell is doing his best to preserve the future of shoemaking through the increasingly popular Koronya shoemaking courses that vary from short intensive courses to full 6 month apprenticeships.
Koronya have recently relaunched their website www.koronya.com, and even though they are best known and revered for their bespoke shoes they have now launched a mens ready to wear line. The collection consists of a cap toe Oxford, a wholecut and a plain Derby all built on Last no. 224 and available in six different colours. See images below.
Marcell was kind enough to give me some of his time recently to answer a couple of questions;
Q: What is your shoemaking philosophy?
MM: Well, these days we have to cope with mass production, and misuse of the term “hand-made” to describe factory made products. I believe we shoemakers have to show with our work that this concept means something else, something better and much higher quality. Do not misunderstand me - I don’t have a problem with machines - they are needed, as we couldn’t produce enough footwear with hand work alone. On the other hand I really believe that we have to preserve the same quality and techniques that we inherited. I want to produce shoes which aren’t worse than the old ones, and made exactly the same way - if someone needs that quality and fastidiousness - you might want to buy Koronya shoes.
Q: Does the RTW collection currently just consist of the three styles featured on your website?
MM: Yes, we are a small workshop and a short menu means a good restaurant! we will be adding to the collection in due time.
Q: Which other shoemakers do you admire?
MM: There are many but let me mention my Swedish friend Janne Melkersson, a great person and highly skilled and knowledgable shoemaker.
Q: What shoe advice would you give to a man?
MM: A few things;
1. Every gentleman should have at least one pair of bespoke shoes - so if you can afford it, get a pair. Consider this; a badly made bag or suit won’t affect your health, badly fitting footwear can cause serious problems.
2. Learn a bit about shoes.
3. Don’t but any crap, which claims to be “made by hand”. We, hand working shoemakers wouldn’t write those things on our shoes.
Ready To Wear:
Bespoke:
For more information on Marcell, Koronya and the shoemaking courses, visit their recently redesigned website www.koronya.com
-
mrq liked this
-
thelongwing posted this
