bootmaker
MASSARO first opened for business on paris’s rue de la paix in 1894 & the house has been creating made-to-measure footwear for shinning stars like marlène dietrich & elizabeth taylor. like his father & grandfather, the house’s founder, raymond massaro has dedicated all he had to making beautiful footwear. in 1957 he created the 2-tone sandal for
GABRIELLE CHANEL, which changed footwear history, & the two labels have embarked a collaborative adventure ever since. in this bootmaker’s parisian workshop, a dozen dedicated craftsmen, including the last-maker, clicker, closer & shoe assemblers ... young & old, now divide their time, blood, & sweat across couture, made-to-measure & ready-to-wear collections. yet one constant remains, it’s that gleaming passion for a profession that demands precision & patience. from taking the initial measurements to adding the finishing touches, each woman’s shoe requires around thirty hours of legit hard work, while a man’s shoe needs nearly fifty. visiting a place where folks just make things with their own hands is always an encouraging experience, also comforting & reassuring, the ambience & the energy there is different, it reminds you that you can always follow your heart & choose your own path, without giving a fuck to how society & the tasteless majority define what a successful living should be. & it is the diligence, the passion, the earnest, the true hearts of these craftsmen that makes this kind of art so special, & even magical, especially in this age where almost everyone does is just to click to like or swipe to the right or do whatever to be liked
