Info
10 10 84 is an ongoing footwear project exploring the intersection of traditional shoemaking and contemporary, sneaker-like forms.
The project approaches casual footwear through the methods, materials and construction principles historically associated with fine shoemaking. Leathers are sourced in limited quantities from small, independent tanneries, selected for their character, weight, structure and ability to develop through wear. Production is intentionally kept to small batches, allowing greater control over material selection, construction and finishing.
Each model is developed around the material rather than engineered for large-scale industrial production. Patterns, leather thicknesses, reinforcement, seam placement, lasting and sole construction are determined according to the requirements of the individual design.
10 10 84 is produced in Tuscany, Italy, from material selection through cutting, preparation, construction, lasting, sole building, finishing and final assembly. Traditional footwear techniques are applied to silhouettes intended to retain the ease and wearability of a sneaker, while using materials and construction standards more closely associated with traditionally made leather shoes.
A defining part of the process is object dyeing. Each pair is dyed only after the shoe has been fully constructed. Rather than coloring the individual materials before assembly, the completed object is treated as a whole, allowing the upper, sole, stitching, laces and other assembled components to absorb and respond to the dye together.
Variations in tone, surface, absorption and finishing are therefore inherent to the process. These differences are not treated as imperfections, but as a consequence of producing footwear from natural materials through small-scale, materially driven methods.
The objective of 10 10 84 is not to reproduce traditional footwear or conventional sneakers, but to use the discipline of traditional shoemaking to develop a different kind of everyday shoe: wearable and familiar in form, uncompromising in material, construction and craftsmanship.