Alert: Charles Philip Shanghai Men’s

First impression always do the sale. I said that because these loafers look pretty darn GOOD, and they stuck in my heart ever since we met.

But it’s quite a peculiar idea for a Milan-born shoe designer to include an Asian city name in his eponymous brand name.

As it turned out, it wasn’t because all Charles Philip Shanghai shoes were made in Shanghai – in fact, they’re all made-in-China – but the founder and designer Charles Philip Pozzi loves Shanghai, the city which he refers to as the “New York in the Eighties” – gritty, full of possibility and ambitious. It was his way of showing appreciation for his favourite Asian municipality.

Wait. Taken aback by the word “Made-in-China”? Yes I did, but further study of the brand changed my mind – instead of manufactured by factories in mass quantity, the shoes are all manually made by the hands of their in-store shoe cobblers who can produce about 30 pairs of shoes per day.

“We did a test when we had buyers coming in our showroom to view the new made in Portugal range. We placed one made in China sample amongst them as well. Nobody had a clue. Nobody noticed any differences.” Great workmanship isn’t defined by location and ethnicity, so to speak?

Charles Philip Shanghai X 10 Corso Como Edition.

Important plus point: this is an affordable luxury brand. Priced between $100 and $200, they are definitely more accessible than Del Toro’s slippers.

They don’t seem to have many options on their official online store currently, and I don’t think they ship to Malaysia yet. But fret not! eBay, Revolve Clothing, Yoox and Google will always be there for us.

Besides their flagship store in Shanghai, they’re also available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Lane Crawford, and Reebonz in Singapore.