Walkerville
Walkerville.
The development of Walkerville was challenging. For over a year, the teams in Manchester and Portugal worked on the "Shark" project to create a lightweight boot with a distinct Meanforme profile as a partner to Risedale. We engineered last 47197, altering it repeatedly for the perfect shape, fit, and stance. We designed Walkerville with a squared-off toe, flat toe spring, relaxed pitch, and a fully deconstructed upper to reduce weight and maintain a relaxed fit.
The goal was to develop a boot that fits like a lightweight trainer rather than a traditional leather boot. To achieve this, the board heel support, toe puff, and lining were removed. The leather used is a custom 1.9mm velour Nap suede designed for comfort both inside and out. Additionally, the removable footbed taken from Risedale is finished in natural Celeiro leather to enhance comfort.
Walkerville comes with three lace options: Wax cotton, full leather, and the new MF yellow flat cotton contrast lace. For protection during travel and storage, each pair comes with a recycled cotton partitioned drawstring branded bag, a work of art itself.
Check out the below on just what we did next in terms of the actual construction.
Our Little bag construction
Walkerville isn’t made like most shoes, it is constructed using a little-known method of shoe making called Sacchetto. Sacchetto shoe construction is a premium Italian shoemaking technique, renowned for its flexibility and comfort. The term "Sacchetto," which translates to "little bag," aptly describes the distinctive engineering involved in the making of Walkerville. Rather than incorporating a rigid insole, the upper part of the shoe is meticulously stitched to a soft leather lining, creating a "sock-like" enclosure.
This wonderful old shoe construction eliminates the need for rigid components such as metal attachments, board and glue, resulting in shoes that are exceptionally soft, flexible, and breathable. Take a look at the video at the bottom of this page.
