Boat shoes
Boat shoes
Imagine finding yourself on the boat of an Italian sailor man: what’s on his feet? Inspired by the style and strength of this sport, our boat shoes are made in Italy by our artisans’ hands.
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The history of boat shoes
It’s the beginning of 1930s. A man named Paul Sperry buys a boat, gets out onto the harbor and, when the water gets too high, he slips very badly. So, he decides to cover the whole surface with a grain powder. It works, no doubt; but every time he feels tired and tries to lay down for a moment, it’s too painful for him.
At some point, he notices that his cocker spaniel Prince can run all the way up and down without slipping. He grabs the dog’s paws and realizes there are some micro scars underneath. Then, he gets the idea: creating a shoe sole with fish-bone-shape scars.
This is how the first-ever boat shoes came to be: Paul began selling them door-to-door. Things were going well the American Army offered to purchase his production in 1939.
How are Velasca boat shoes made?
Our boat shoes are entirely handmade by our expert Italian artisans. The man has two different leather options: nubuck or rustic. The white sole is always rubber; so you can’t slip. Our laces, instead, are made of leather.
Who’s Giovanni Soldini, the Italian iconic sailor?
Giovanni Soldini is known as the “men’s sailing style icon,” a sport made of hard work and a long time tradition. Born in Milan in 1966, he beat a new world record via the famous Hong Kong-London route in 2018. He’s always wearing his “uniform” with anti-slip rubber-sole boat shoes because, you know, it’s so easy to slip on sail boats.
