The Ichigo Ichie Kai loafers are a special pair of shoes. It is a striking tassel loafer model with a floating hand-stitched apron coupled by a connecting long split-toe. The short-apron/long split-toe hand-stitch detail is often made on a derby shoe. On top of that, you find it often accompanied by white piping and white stitching. These, of course, are not mandatory on the model, but those details help make the pattern ‘pop.’
The Ichigo Ichie Kai loafers are the second pair of this shoemaker’s shoes that I have unboxed. The first one was their classic split-toe derby. See that here. Their work continues to impress not only on a design level but also on a value level. The pricing of the Ichigo Ichie shoes for what you are getting in return is a second to few. The pricing is insanely competitive and the making is top-notch.
My only gripe on this pair was the heel height. I do not like overly stacked heels and for me, this had a few too many layers. I also prefer a loafer heel to be lower than an oxford (read: laced shoe etc) heel. It is quite common in production-made footwear to make the heel height of your loafers around a ⅛ inch smaller than your ‘regular’ shoes. The same idea often applies in the reverse when it comes to boots, where you sometimes find a higher heel block. This was neither here nor there in terms of quality and value, but rather simply a lack of communication on my part.
Nonetheless, the Ichigo Ichie Kai loafers remain one of the cooler loafers out there. And while you might not like this particular color-combo, the reality is that you can choose the colors of your liking. But what I love is the ability to do that on the piping and the stitching. I can only imagine some cool combinations some of you might think up!
As a special and exclusive offer to The Shoe Snob Blog readers, Ichigo Ichie is offering a discount code with 15% off. The code is JF15. It is good until October 31st of 2025. So you have time to think about what pair you want to get started on!
Learn more here: https://ichigoichieshoes.com/
—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob
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