Upcycle Your Shoes

When you are resourceful you can turn something unused into something useful. Mr. Renworks of Instagram did just that in this very cool upcycle shoe project he undertook with Wayman Bespoke. He told me about this large project of his and I found it all very fascinating, not to mention clever. I had never heard of this being done before, not at least in a customer-to-shoemaker scenario. It also helps when the shoe being produced is of immaculate caliber by a well-known shoemaker. So, let’s look at the process and story.

Mr. Renworks had an old pair of Caiman Alligator Mezlan loafers that were not getting any rotation (and for good reason) but felt that the uppers were still in good condition and were just there wasting away. Being a huge shoe lover with some very creative taste, he decided to undertake a project with help from German shoemaker, Wayman Bespoke, to reimagine his exotic leather into another shoe worthy of such a fine skin.

Wanting to make a derby of sorts, he found a shoe that he liked, that was made by Japanese bespoke shoemaker, Siroeno Yosui, commissioned by a huge shoe enthusiast who actually designed the original pattern. This was a very special one-eyelet derby with a unique saddle-style side panel, see it below. I think it was a wise choice and honestly, what attracted me to this whole project. I really love the simple yet striking nature of the saddle piece, a triangle shape essentially, which I never thought would fit into a shoe’s pattern, at least in an aesthetically pleasing way. But it does. And it does well!

Mr. Renworks disassembled his own shoes (see pic above) and then sent the uppers to Wayman Bespoke’s workshop in Shanghai where they recut the leather to obtain the side panels. Once done, they constructed this beautiful 1 eyelet derby with this unique antiqued look in what looks like grey/black/white, etc.

The shoe is breathtaking and I bet it has to feel great to be able to take something that was wasting away and turn it into a new beautiful creation that can get a ton of wear. While this of course took some new investment, Mr. Renworks was at least able to save on the most expensive part of these which were the Cayman side panels that would have easily 3x-4x times the price of the shoe.

The project was long and tedious due to all of the issues of the world today but in the end, I bet he feels more than happy to have his new creation. By all means, it was a smart and creative project that I think makes a lot of sense in this day and age of consumption. Recycling is great, but upcycling is even better!

So, if you have some pairs sitting around with some unique material/skin that you do not find yourself using anymore, send them to Wayman bespoke for a makeover and get some new life out of your wasted material!

Mr. Renworks – https://www.instagram.com/mr.renworks/?hl=en

Wayman Bespoke – https://www.waymanbespoke.com/

Siroeno Yosui – https://www.instagram.com/siroenoyosui/

Max (Shoe Enthusiast original maker) – https://www.instagram.com/orzmaxorz/

—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob

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