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| My Mantorii Shoe - an Oxford Cap Toe (also featured on Mantorii's website!) |
Let me introduce Mantorii Custom Footwear. Mantorii is the brainchild of Aron, a sartorially inclined Hungarian Stanford graduate, who spent years working for a big multinational before founding his own company in Asia, doing sourcing, consulting and factory audits. Aron has always had a deep love for shoes and had been sending around shoes from his favourite shoemaker in Vietnam to friends around the world for quite a while. Not long ago he decided to use his previous work experience and take the business online: Mantorii Custom Footwear is the result.
I was wondering when the first company would introduce custom shoes online. Indochino started with suits, it was only a matter of time for someone to do shoes as well. I actually expect Indochino to enter the market very soon and there are probably more too follow.
Aron was so kind to offer me a pair of shoes for a review, it was an opportunity I could not resist. I've been lusting for a pair of custom shoes for a while. Not because I have unusual feet, but because I like the idea of having made something just for me. Not something that 1000 of others have as well. Also, I just like the whole online custom idea. It kind of brings back former times, when all garments were handmade for the customer. So far, I was only stopped by the price point, but Mantorii is actually affordable. Their shoes start at $299 including free worldwide shipping, you can get free remakes and full refunds (and for readers of my blog, it will get even better - more about that later).
How does Mantorii work?
Using a simple measurement process, all shoes are made to your exact measurements. Guys like us who are used to submitting measurements online for suits and shirts won't have any problem with it, I found the measurement process to be straight forward and easy to do. You basically draw the outline of your feet on a A4 paper (they have a special PDF for that), measure 2 points on each foot, scan the page and upload it during the shopping process. There is also a video to guide you through the process.
Their shoes are not produced in a factory, in fact they are handmade by a 3rd generation shoemaker with a couple of employees, who according to Aron is a very well respected master of his trade and serves most of the national top management as well as lots of expats in the area.
Luckily, Mantori also has a satisfaction guarantee similar to Indochino, so in case your shoe really doesn't fit and cannot be altered by a local cobbler, you can send it back for a remake or a refund.
Choose your style, leather, sole, broguing and more
You can then choose several options. For now, you can choose between Oxford, Monk or Derby shoes. According to Aron, the choice will be expanded in the near future. I personally would hope for boots, would be great for the winter.
Next you choose your leather. The guys from Mantorii know how much a good leather matters for a proper dress shoe, so they are directly sourcing from a variety of local leather tanners. When I ordered they had 5 kinds, reaching from different shades of brown to cream, and black. Soon Mantorii will also offer sustainable sourced, vegetable tanned full grain leathers for a little premium. I quite like that idea, in the meanwhile I also found the existing selection sufficient.
You can then choose several options. For now, you can choose between Oxford, Monk or Derby shoes. According to Aron, the choice will be expanded in the near future. I personally would hope for boots, would be great for the winter.
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| Mantorii Shoe Choices - pic from mantorii.tumblr.com |
Additionally, you can define which kind of broguing you want on your shoe. Everything from plain, to cap toe, quarter brogue, half brogue and full brogue/wingtip is available.
Another great thing is that they are really open for custom requests. As they are working with a team of very experienced shoemakers, there is hardly anything they cannot do. According to Aron, as they are still a small company, they can work with each customer individually if needed. They only thing they won't do are square toes - I can support that decision.
Another great thing is that they are really open for custom requests. As they are working with a team of very experienced shoemakers, there is hardly anything they cannot do. According to Aron, as they are still a small company, they can work with each customer individually if needed. They only thing they won't do are square toes - I can support that decision.
Price point is excellent for a custom shoe. $299 is actually unbelievable cheap. I am very picky about my shoes so I asked in detail how the whole process works. The measurements are used to adapt an existing last (they use classic and elegant English lasts as basis) and adapt it to the outline of your feet and the measurements you supplied. This saves time and cost, so a new last is not built from scratch, but the result is still the same.
Construction quality is excellent, according to Aron. Vietnam is a pretty tough place for shoes, it's very humid and hot, so build quality has to be good to sustain the climate. Mantorii's shoemaker uses goodyear welt process, so the shoes can be resoled and are good for many many years.
I received my shoe a while ago and have it in heavy rotation at the moment. I will publish the actual review early next week, let me just say that I was not disappointed. Quite the contrary.
Update: Something I almost forgot. Their turnaround time is pretty quick for a custom shoe - it will get delivered to your doorstep within 4 weeks.
But wait, there is more:
I didn't just want to get a free pair of shoes and write about it on the blog. I managed to convince Aron that readers of this blog expect something special. He agreed to do a special promo and give out 5 coupons worth $100 each. This means a custom shoe will actually only cost you $199, awesome deal. All you need to do is comment here on the blog and become a fan of Mantorii on Facebook or Twitter. Aron will be monitoring the comments and give out the coupons. For any questions, you can just email them directly at info@mantorii.com or ask in the comments here.
Update: The offer has been extended to all commenters on this thread! Read the comment from Mantorii in the comment section. All you need to do is write them an email at info@mantorii.com and they will hook you up with a coupon code.
Last Update: All coupons have now been given away.
I received my shoe a while ago and have it in heavy rotation at the moment. I will publish the actual review early next week, let me just say that I was not disappointed. Quite the contrary.
Update: Something I almost forgot. Their turnaround time is pretty quick for a custom shoe - it will get delivered to your doorstep within 4 weeks.
But wait, there is more:
I didn't just want to get a free pair of shoes and write about it on the blog. I managed to convince Aron that readers of this blog expect something special. He agreed to do a special promo and give out 5 coupons worth $100 each. This means a custom shoe will actually only cost you $199, awesome deal. All you need to do is comment here on the blog and become a fan of Mantorii on Facebook or Twitter. Aron will be monitoring the comments and give out the coupons. For any questions, you can just email them directly at info@mantorii.com or ask in the comments here.
Update: The offer has been extended to all commenters on this thread! Read the comment from Mantorii in the comment section. All you need to do is write them an email at info@mantorii.com and they will hook you up with a coupon code.
Last Update: All coupons have now been given away.
