I have such a long list of The Drifter Leather models that I want that I am always bummed when I miss their open-for-order window. I already reviewed the black pebbled Chelsea boots here and I am looking forward to reviewing many more :)) The level of craftsmanship is stellar and they seem to make shoes that last for a lifetime. The Chelsea boots have become even softer and I can hardly wait for fall to come to wear them again. And to be able to breath outside.
But now, back to sandals.
I got lucky and managed to place my order on their February opening. In case you are not familiar with it, The Drifter Leather opens for orders once a month, on a specific day at a specific time (that they announce a couple of days beforehand) and in a matter of minutes it closes as they accept a limited amount of orders. They hand craft everything and they customise all orders (free of charge) so that takes a while. And they want to focus on quality, not quantity. In my opinion, it is an actually fair price for the amount of time and attention they put into making their shoes.
Tip: Subscribe to their newsletter and they will let you know when you can place your next order.
I’d made and changed my mind quite a few times before deciding on the Aventura sandals, not because I was not sure I would like them but because I’d always had problems with sandals that had straps over my (left foot) bunion. But my fears all disappeared when I tried them on: they are soft and so beautifully done that I felt no rubbing on any parts of my feet. And after the first few wears, they have moulded perfectly on my feet.
My Aventura sandals are crafted out of Tobacco vachetta leather with a Cappuccino sole and a 4mm Vibram greige outer sole. There are 8 colours for this kind of leather to choose from. There's no need to tell you about sizing and width as you can customise your order base on your feet measurements.
Photo: Colour scheme for Vachetta leather.
Tip: You can order leather samples online if you need to see them before making a decision.
They tick all the barefoot shoes requirements:
- are zero drop,
- have no arch support,
- are very flexible.
The Drifter Leather is a small family business, based in Thessaloniki, Greece, and it consists of a team: Callie, Christianna, Maria and Garifalos. Once again, I had the pleasure of talking to Christianna, who has studied music. Callie is a photographer and graphic designer and their mother and father, Maria and Garifalos, have over 20 years of experience in the shoe industry. Everything is hand-cut and sewn with minimal use of machinery so there should be no wonder that it takes a few weeks for your perfect pair of shoes to arrive.
Tip: If you are lucky, sometimes you can find on their ‘On Sale' page ready-to-wear shoes that the clients did not what, for different reasons. But that doesn’t happen that often. For example, at the time I am writing this blog post, there is nothing available.
Stay tuned for more reviews. If you have questions about anything in particular regarding these sandals (and not only), drop a line in comments. Fingers crossed it works :D
PS: Katja from Bose Nogice also reviewed these sandals, you can find her insights here.
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