Few individuals have done as much for the popularization of Goodyear welted footwear in the last half-decade as Chris Echevarria. Through his brand Blackstock & Weber, Chris has deftly managed to make loafers—zebra-print pennies, two-tone horsebits, and Vibram lug soled tassels (plus, you know, black loafers and stuff)—de rigueur for a growing spectrum of people in cities who don’t work in investment banking.
Now, Chris has turned his attention towards handsewn moccasin construction footwear by teaming up with 89-year-old Sperry to create four unique made-in-Maine styles.
Once one of Maine’s great classic handsewn makers, Sperry has shifted focus like so many other American manufacturers: to a wider range of styles beyond their classic mocs (sneakers, flip-flops, Crocs-type stuff) and to outsourced overseas manufacturing. Their top-end Handcrafted in Maine Gold Cup line is still made in Maine at the Rancourt factory in Lewiston, but the vast bulk of Sperry’s line is not. Chris’s Sperrys most definitely are.
Leather is a huge story here, with Chris exclusively leaning on C.F. Stead and Horween leathers, including impressively fuzzy black and tan Stead suede, along with Horween tumbled bison.
Pattern-wise the classic Sperry boat shoe was an obvious move, although Chris swapped in a fun speed hook for the top eyelet on both models (we all know how incredibly long it can take to lace up boat shoes with all those silly eyelets). He also took the lesser-known Sperry Captain’s Oxford pattern—a stripped-down shoe with single-piece-quarters—and sauced it up properly with off-color/-texture French binding. Everything gets a nicely chonky Vibram lug sole.
Our favorite is without a doubt the brown bison boat shoe which contrasts textures and shades and features a suede plug and kicker. The blacked out (save for the eyelets/hooks) version works it plenty hard too, and offers a similar textural interplay.
People tend to follow Chris where he leads them. Maine is a damned good destination.