In-atelier. Let’s meet first.
A last built for your foot, or a fit rebuilt entirely.
There are two reasons to begin at the bench rather than the archive: you want a commission shaped from your own direction, or you have never found a shoe that truly fits. Both begin the same way — in the room at Menlo Park, with the leather in hand and the last on the table. Hand-lasted at the Pretoria bench, built Blake-stitched or hand-welted, and made to be resoled rather than replaced.
The fit is built on the last before it is ever committed to leather.
For a commission of your own direction
A shoe that exists only because you asked for it — your last, your leather, a detail no model on the rack carries. The archive is where you choose; the bench is where you decide.
For a foot the shelf has never served
A standard last is an average of many feet. If yours has spent years working around that average — a high instep, an asymmetry, an orthotic to accommodate — Specialist Fit sets the average aside.
From the first sitting to the finished pair.
The sitting
An unhurried hour or two at the Menlo Park bench. We talk through what you have in mind — the model, the leather, the way you will wear it — and read the shoes you arrived in for what they reveal. The brief is set here, in the room, with the materials between us.
Measurement & the last
Both feet are traced and measured — rarely the same, and we build for the difference. From those measurements a bespoke form is built on the last to suit: an instep raised, a width set, a half-size split across the pair. Where a fit is corrective, this is where it is solved.
Leather & construction
Full-grain hide selected with the commission in hand, and the build settled — Blake-stitched for a closer line, hand-welted for weight and the easiest rebuild. Neither is the lesser shoe. The leather is chosen for the pair it will become, not pulled from a shelf.
Built at the bench
Hand-lasted once, the upper cut and closed, the sole stitched on. This is the slow part, and the part that cannot be rushed — the reason a delivery date is confirmed at commission and not promised before the fit is sure.
Yours — and kept on file
The finished pair, and the record behind it: your last, your fit, the leather you chose, held for the pairs that follow. The next commission begins where this one left off. And like everything off the bench, it is built to be resoled for as long as you own it.
A last built for your foot.
For a commission shaped from your own direction. We begin with a sitting at Menlo Park — your foot, your intent, the leather between us — and the bench works toward a pair that exists only because you asked for it.
- An in-atelier consultation, unhurried, the brief set in the room.
- Your model and detailing, or a direction the rack doesn’t carry.
- Full-grain leather chosen for the commission, Blake or hand-welt.
- Hand-lasted once, resoleable for as long as you own it.
Lead time and delivery date confirmed upon commission.
If nothing has ever fit — this is where that changes.
Corrective fit, a difficult last, the asymmetry no shelf has ever addressed. We build a bespoke form on the last to the foot in front of us, then confirm the fit on that last before the commission begins.
- A full tracing and measurement of both feet — built for the difference.
- Assessment with your own orthotics in hand, built around them.
- A bespoke form built on the last to your measurements — instep, width, a split pair.
- A fit check on that last before a single piece of leather is cut.
Lead time and delivery date confirmed upon commission.
What’s settled before the leather is cut.
How long does a bespoke commission take?
Longer than the archive, and deliberately so. A bespoke pair moves through a sitting, a fit confirmed on the last, leather selection and the build itself — none of which is rushed. A firm delivery date is confirmed at commission, once the fit is sure, rather than promised before it.
Do I have to come into the atelier?
The first sitting and the fit check happen at the Menlo Park bench — the fit cannot be settled any other way. Everything around it, from the first conversation to the final confirmation, can begin over a message. Most commissions start that way.
What if I wear orthotics, or one foot differs from the other?
That is precisely what Specialist Fit is for. We trace and measure both feet, take your own orthotics into account, and build a bespoke form on the last to suit — then confirm the fit on that last before the commission begins. The fit is built on the last before it is ever committed to leather.
Blake-stitched or hand-welted — which should I choose?
Both are house builds, and neither is the lesser shoe. Blake-stitched sits closer and lighter; hand-welted carries more weight and takes the easiest rebuild over a lifetime. We talk it through at the sitting against how you intend to wear the pair — nothing is pre-decided.
Can a bespoke pair be resoled like the rest?
Yes — and with the record we keep, more easily than most. Your last, fit and leather are held on file, so a resole, a refurbish or the next commission begins where the last left off. A SixKings pair is built to come back to the bench, not to be replaced.
Let’s meet first.
Begin the commission online, or open it with us directly on WhatsApp. Either way, the same record is kept and the same pair is built.
Consultations at the Menlo Park atelier by appointment.
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