Tokyo-based, half-American/half-Japanese Seiji McCarthy discusses his uniquely late path into shoemaking, the development of his vintage-Americana-inspired bespoke line, why he feels more American in Japan, and why it’s sometimes better if your bespoke shoemaker doesn't make your shoes entirely themselves.

https://www.seijimccarthy.com/

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2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

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This week we've got a chat with Andrew Turriff, a Canadian shoemaker who studied at Cordwainer’s Footwear Design program in London, worked for some big sneaker brands, and did pattern work for fellow Canadians Viberg and time in the orthopedic world before deciding to make a zero-drop, anatomical, barefoot shoe with of top-end materials—and also make it resolable, which it’s otherwise quite tough to find.

Turriff Functional Footwear's launch model recently became available and I’ve been wearing and loving the shoes for over a month now. Are my feet stronger? I have no idea. Am I a barefoot shoe zealot now? Nope! But I legitimately love the shoes Andrew’s created.

Our chat that gets deep into the science behind barefoot shoes, the technical construction and design aspects of Turriff Footwear, and the shoemaking journey that provided the building blocks for what’s certainly been one of the more interesting pieces of quality footwear I’ve worn in a while.

https://www.turriffshoes.com/

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2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

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Matt Priest, President and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, came on the Shoecast the morning after 104% tariffs on Chinese goods into the US hit in a rapidly-moving-target trade war with the United States and just about every other country.

What ARE tariffs? How might tariffs and general uncertainty impact massive shoe brands? Smaller ones? Made-in-USA footwear? Retail prices? What's kinds of supply chain breakdowns have already happened and what might be next? How does the lobbying work that FDRA does function and benefit the footwear industry? And why is everyone suddenly really, really mad at Matt?

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Check out our site!

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2025 dates and location for Stitchdown's Boot Camp 3—the world's fair of shoes and boots and leather and more—coming soon.

https://www.stitchdownbootcamp.com/