As a brand, Crown Northampton are continually pushing the boundaries of high quality, casual led footwear. With this in mind, we're very happy to present to you all what we believe is the ultimate handmade in England ‘Dress Sneaker’.
Our Hand Stitch Collection is the pinnacle of luxury, handmade sneakers. Two years in the making, hand-finished construction and world-class materials have been specifically tailored and tweaked. The end result further elevates the Crown Northampton Sneaker range to the highest levels possible, delivered in a stylish low profile silhouette. This top tier collection draws inspiration from bespoke, hand welted dress shoes with more than a few nods of respect to time-honored traditional processes.
Harlestone Hand Stitch Derby - Finest Off White Vegetable Tanned Calf
Externally, the Harlestone Derby uses the finest pure veg tan calf, luxuriously soft Scottish deer, and what many class as the best leather in the world - Horween Shell Cordovan. The soles are made from virgin hevea milk which has been directly harvested from the Cao Su or ‘Crying Wood’ tree. These ‘Lactae Hevea’ sole units are soft, durable, fully sustainable, and offer a comfortable ride that only gets better with each wear.
The inner workings of the Hand Stitch Sneaker Collection are equally as impressive. Following the standards set with bespoke hand welted shoes, all of our Hand Stitch sneakers are cork filled by hand. Natural cork is mixed with latex then applied and left to set. The cork then forms a solid filler down the full spine of the sneaker that provides just enough movement to mould to the wearers' feet, locking in comfort, aiding stability, and enabling breathable properties throughout the sneaker. This age-old process requires skill and patience so is therefore deemed too slow and expensive by many brands and factories in the modern world. Not so at Crown Northampton. We embrace these artisanal skills and hold them dear to our traditional roots.
Strong and reliable oak bark leather is used for the counter and stiffener with a natural veg-tan crust shoulder used to form the foundations of the insole. Topped with soft, natural leather lining and french bound stitching around the outer edges, the end result of these combined classic techniques is a solid structure that offers superior strength and longevity.
Hand Stitch sign off detail is applied to the upper and rear dog tail tabs with signature 'Double Stitch' finishing for added security and character. These intricate, centuries-old construction details further close the gap between high-end casual sneakers and traditional, Goodyear Welted Northampton dress shoes.
Harlestone Hand Stitch Collection Images above - Top to bottom:
Black Scottish Deer Suede > Grey Veg Tan Calf Leather > No 8 Horween Shell Cordovan > Bourbon Horween Shell Cordovan
All styles from the Hand Stitch Collection are available with a choice of natural gum, white or black soles. Remaining inline with Lactae Hevea sustainability characteristics, the sole units are fully resoleable through our factory ‘Restoration Service’ if required at a later date.
We're very proud of our new collection and look forward to steadily growing the range one carefully thought through style at a time.
See full Hand Stitch Sneaker Collection here.
