J. M. Weston, quintessential luxury shoes for men.
J. M. Weston, or just Weston, is a symbol of French men's footwear. The brand proposes moccasins, lace-ups and ankle boots, marrying a refined look with light rock 'n' roll vibes.
A history of French tradition.
Despite its English-sounding name, the house of J. M. Weston came into being in Limoges in 1891, in Édouard Blanchard's shoe factory. It was his son, who had spent time training in the Goodyear factory in Weston, who would give the brand its American dimension. The influences from two different worlds would give rise to classics that would blur the codes of shoemaking. That goes for moccasins, the label's signature product, that come in between 3 and 7 widths and half-sizes.
Founded in 1946, the brand's “180” moccasins have become icons of French elegance and crossed the years without batting an eyelid. Success was all-encompassing. In the 1970's, Weston began to conquer Paris, and then the rest of France. In 1986, it opened its first boutique in New York. Numerous collaborations have made it possible to revisit the emblematic “180“ moccasins. They have been reinvented by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, and brought out in deep blue in 2016, as a tribute to Yves Klein. Michel Perry, creative director until 2017, then Olivier Saillard, the former director of the Museum of Fashion of the City of Paris, applied the brand's tradition to its new designs. The house of Weston launched its first line of leather goods in 2012 and now boasts around forty boutiques throughout the world.
Between classical and rock.
Using materials tanned by one of the last French vegetable tanners, Weston designs use a variety of leathers and hides. The brand recreates its classic models in crocodile, lizard and shark leather. Even if Weston is more about the understated, with natural and mono colours, certain designs are adorned with vivid velvets or dual-tone hues. Like the iconic moccasins, but also the lace-ups with flowery tips, the ankle boots with American overtones and the army-inspired boots with thick treaded soles.
Weston shoes have been setting masculine feet apart generation after generation. They have been worn by a bevy of musicians, politicians and high-school students. Between sophistication and nonconformist detailing, "180" moccasins are without contest the shining lights of the brand. But the lace-ups with floral tips have also won customers over, while the ankle boots were very quickly adopted in the world of rock 'n' roll.