giannisg2004The country where the shoe is made is not as relevant anymore. And what did you expect for the price? If you want made in America Britain or Italy you will have to pay for that. You can never go wrong with Allen Edmonds as they always go on sale and the customer service is top-notch
Uncle_AlI'd agree that some shoes made outside of North America or western Europe are no lesser in quality than those made in the countries you named--but some countries have no workforce with a history of shoemaking. Spain and Mexico absolutely do; in fact, many consider Carmina at least equal to AE. I know India has a long-standing leather industry, though you seldom see full-grain, goodyear-welted shoes like these made there. And one of the finest shoe makers in the world, Vass, is in Hungary.
China is another thing entirely. It's not that a Chinese company couldn't make welted fullgrain shoes with hand finishing; it's just that they'd end up costing almost as much as AE. And for the same price, most guys would rather have shoes made somewhere with a heritage of shoemaking, good customer service, decent worker protections, etc.
And that's the other big concern: Some countries' governments do some evil shit--jailing and killing political dissidents, oppressing minority groups, sponsoring hacking of Western governments and individuals.
Hence I'll never buy anything from Russia, China or Turkey. But Spain? Sure. India? They have some child labor, but at least they're not poisoning journalists, eating dogs, or attacking US citizens on our own soil, as Turkish security goons did in DC last year.
If Kurdish-made shies ever come up for sale, I'll be first in line.
*made in India
*sigh*
China is another thing entirely. It's not that a Chinese company couldn't make welted fullgrain shoes with hand finishing; it's just that they'd end up costing almost as much as AE. And for the same price, most guys would rather have shoes made somewhere with a heritage of shoemaking, good customer service, decent worker protections, etc.
And that's the other big concern: Some countries' governments do some evil shit--jailing and killing political dissidents, oppressing minority groups, sponsoring hacking of Western governments and individuals.
Hence I'll never buy anything from Russia, China or Turkey. But Spain? Sure. India? They have some child labor, but at least they're not poisoning journalists, eating dogs, or attacking US citizens on our own soil, as Turkish security goons did in DC last year.
If Kurdish-made shies ever come up for sale, I'll be first in line.