Loro Piana is the current king of beautiful articles of menswear priced so absurdly and unjustifiably high their catalogue is more like a museum to look at and appreciate than it is an actual place to buy from. Still, their style sense is, as ever, quite on the money, and the items they produce are usually very special. Perhaps their biggest hit of late is their City Walk loafer — a lightly colored gum rubber soled shoe with a leather (usually suede) upper. There are no laces, no frills, and are, I hear, quite comfortable. They have also “inspired” just about every other stylish shoe company on the planet to produce their own take on these shoes. Why? Well, because a pair of the LP ones will run you over $1,000. And you thought Gucci loafers (with decades and decades of shoe-making pedigree under their logo-buckled-belts) were expensive!
Perhaps the most popular alternative to the LP shoes is the Sagan Stride by Baudoin & Lange. I tried a pair and found them remarkably uncomfortable. (I prefer their more classic dress loafers; they do make very nice shoes over there.) Scarosso has their interpretation, as do many other brands.
The version that has stood out to me for a while is the one from Aurelien, a brand I have long wanted to give a shot. Their version looks very similar to the LP ones, yet somehow still refrains from being a “knock off.” I have also been kicking around in a pair of them for a while and they might just be the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned (perhaps save Belgian Loafers). They are quite well made, and both look and feel great. The suede is incredibly soft and pliable, and the sole is pillowy to walk upon. Indeed, the insert is removable as well if you’d like to replace it with something that has better arch support, or so on for other foot issues. In many ways, then, this really is a dream shoe that comes in at a very-fair-for-what-these-are fraction of the LP price at, shipped to the US, just shy of $400.
That is the good. The bad? Well, it’s only minor stuff. Their return policy isn’t great, and requires you to pay shipping both to you and back to them, unless you’re exchanging. (They fit true to size, in my experience, so order your usual EU size shoe and you should be fine. Err on going too small — they stretch a bit.) I wish they had half-sizes. Mine fit perfectly the way I like (a bit on the snug side), but as a shoe company, not offering half-sizes is criminal, in this author’s opinion. Lastly, I noticed some imperfect stitching where the upper is attached to the rest of the shoe on the interior. I thought this would cause discomfort, but I actually have not noticed it. Even with these quibbles, I heartily recommend this shoe!