Unboxing Series - BLKBRD Shoemaker

Here we take a look at Indian brand BLKBRD Shoemaker.
BLKBRD has been making a name for itself with its ability to make a seamless wholecut oxford as a 'ready-made' product. Let's not even get into the price of them which is another breathtaking feat that I explain the video.
I have been wanting to see their shoes for some time now. They were kind enough to send over two pairs in two different lasts and styles to evaluate their quality and value for money. And I dare say, that it was quite impressive.
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[@linchuaneu9549]

I kust got a pair of double monk from Blkbrd too, below USD 150 from their classic collection. Great shoes and the price is insane and worth it. And yes, it came with the shoe horn and shoe cream😊 Great sharing as usual, Justin.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing and thanks for the kind words!

[@blkbrdshoemaker7398]

Thanks a lot Justin, It’s like dream come true for us. We have grown our passion for dress shoes watching your and shoe gazing blog, which inspired us, which finally lead to start of BLKBRD Brand. We both brothers are computer engineers with NO background in shoe or business. We have learnt lot of smallest things from both blogs and videos, and learnt/improved a lot by making and learning from our mistakes in our workshop. So you both are inspirations for us and just looking our shoes in your hand seems dream to us. Thanks again 🙏🏻 -Sandeep & Pradeep I will also try to answer some of the questions you had in video. We are trying hard to keep our price affordable and provide best shoe to reach more shoe enthusiast. 1. We started BLKBRD to offer best quality hand welted shoes to Indian domestic clients, so we kept Margin’s low to keep price affordable to Indian customers. 2. We ship directly from our workshop, so we don’t have any overhead for storage and retail space. 3. We MTO shoes in 3 weeks, so no stock cost and wastage. 4. We have 0$ marketing spend for now. 5. We started international reach recently. We wanted to get feedback and improve our product and start scaling when our products are 110% ready. So we have kept margins low, to reach more shoe lovers and receive feedback. We have been receiving 6. Seamless is very expensive and time consuming to make. And actually 2 of 3 attempts fail even while selecting best leathers patch and doing very carefully. And frankly we are loosing money on many seamless pairs now. We are trying to keep price low so many folks could try seamless. I feel they are art piece and not many would be able to afford a 1000$+ pair. With time and scaling price had got to increase but let’s see how far we could keep it affordable. 7. And we do make shoes for some private label brands, so that covers some of our workshop operational expenses. 8. Shipping is extra 30$ for US. Customs are extra and 9. We have been giving complete shoe care kit complementary which includes brush, shoe cream, 2 shoe bags and real shoe horn. This will change sometime soon, or would have already stopped. 10. Labor in India have also increased in last few years, and we pay our craftsman above market price, as they are not like in bigger production house. But yeah they are not as expensive as their US or EUR counterpart. Some of our employees are generation shoe maker, who love working with us as compared to other production houses working on scale, and with us from day 1, and we together survived Covid times, where we payed them salaries out of our pockets even when India was in lockdown for over 6 months. Custom MTO are made to size, so we mention size in box, but try to keep shoe clean of any unnecessary writing/markings. Foam insole, for extra fit adjustment. Insoles could easily be removed and Foam could be removed. Bemer-X (in Horween hatch) (FF4 last) is priced at 250$ without Brass Tap Toe. www.blkbrdshoemaker.com/products/bemer-x-quarter-brogue-oxford-horween-hatch-grain-hand-welted-contemporary-classics?_pos=2&_sid=070274192&_ss=r Constance-X (in Zonta Chestnut) (Oceano last) is priced at 336$ with fiddle back and Brass Tap Toe. www.blkbrdshoemaker.com/collections/seamless-collection/products/constance-x-chestnut-museum We get our Brass Tap Toe custom made, so we can control the quality and price as compared to Triumph.

[@theshoesnob_official]

It is my pleasure and thank you for the kind words. I am always happy to know when I helped to inspire someone to chase and fulfill their dreams

[@markdougherty1636]

Where in India are you located?

[@Terminator-to3lp]

​@@markdougherty1636 They are based at Agra.

[@Norman524]

Just got a pair of shoes from them and can confirm the shoe horn came along at no additional cost

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you for sharing Norman

[@arindambasu9850]

These guys are good. I have a shell cordovan boot on order from them. Keep the prices competitive and the quality up there as you are doing now, Sandeep and Pradeep.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you for sharing! Enjoy your new boots coming

[@fransenfiets]

I have had a pair of the Fulbert X Captoe boot with veldtschoen construction for about 6 months. They came WITH the shoe horn, some cream, a small applicator brush, and a small brush. Wildly good deal😅👏🏼

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you for sharing that info Mitchell!

[@karlraffelsieper1232]

Recently received their Aurus loafer, and literally no break in. Pradeep helped me with the sizing and I could not be happier. Wonderful construction, beautiful lines, great value. I was receiving compliments at the office all day. I was on the fence between Blkbrd or Bridlen, After receiving the Aurus, my mind is made up and Blkbrd is my choice. Compared to my Hartt shoes, a Canadian brand made in Spain, at almost 2x the price, I am strongly leadning to Blkbrd for my next 1/4 Brogue Oxfords. The service and shipping were also great.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you for sharing. Enjoy them!

[@thewholecut]

Great video, Justin! Astonishing value for money. Your review made me realise I've had the seamless wholecuts bookmarked for months but I never pulled the trigger. Now it looks the 'natural' colourway I was interested in has been discontinued from the RTW line. You snooze you lose. What a plonker!

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you! Maybe ask them if they can do MTO?

[@thewholecut]

@@theshoesnob_official Good idea! I just checked again and it looks like they've brought them back with upgraded leather which is even better. Cheers, Louis.

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@thewholecut nice! There you go! ;-)

[@bryanfunk4151]

I don’t have any Bridlen. My Elegal shoes have that arch issue you described. I own each of these shoes. They fit great. I do like how they cup the heel. I have worn each several times and they wear well. Toe caps are extra. They can be added or just message them.

[@vmugunthan4503]

Don't waste your time with Bridlen, Bryan. Blackbird are far superior to Bridlen, fit and quality of leather wise. Blackbird' s Zonta aniline is to die for

[@bryanfunk4151]

@@vmugunthan4503 I’m looking to Italian maker for my next pair.

[@vmugunthan4503]

Look at Antonio Meccarielo, Bryan. Can't go wrong at all

[@bryanfunk4151]

@@vmugunthan4503 That is who I’m looking at.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you for sharing Bryan!

[@GeorgeRuiz1]

Just received a pair of BLKBRD's James Spiral double monks and wow I'm impressed. Around $300 for whole cut, hand welted shoes with great finishing! Took about 5 weeks and definitely worth the wait. Tempted to order another pair!

[@theshoesnob_official]

Nice one! Thanks for sharing!

[@Papamonty01]

Thanks again for an honest review Justin, you are the best!

[@theshoesnob_official]

My pleasure and thank you

[@danbee415]

Those shoes look so nice. I'm tempted to try their purple Zonta leather wholecut shoes, it looks really quite black from the photos. Or maybe just all of them.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Yea great value for money

[@batautomat]

If you order any shoes from BLKBRD expect to wait 4-6 months. I ordered a pair on July 6 (6 ½ months ago!) was was told they are just starting them.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing.

[@iboofer]

Good to know. They've been incredibly cagey with my order. Update 1/12: Shoes took about two months. Probably varies depending on how much customization you've requested.

[@tonydeltablues]

Seems like India (and China, for that matter) are really raising their shoe game. Appreciate you bringing the new brand to the fore. $250/$300 for a hand-welted - wow! Yep - labour costs are at play. I was at the London trunk show and meant to say hi but you were busily occupied with the judging of the patina and all the other stuff! Was an enjoyable day. Best Tony

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing! Glad that you enjoyed the show and sorry to miss you again!

[@tonydeltablues]

@@theshoesnob_official :-) I'll make sure to say Hi in 2024!

[@marekm9609]

Great review. Im in the oprocess of ordering from them and the most amazing part is? They are doing custom size for me based on my feet (really non-standard monsters).

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you and enjoy them!

[@quanchu2984]

Great reviews! Thank you Justin! I have a question - is it worth it to spend a bit more and get a pair of Vass or this still is comparable better?

[@vmugunthan4503]

Blackbird is as good as Vass in terms of quality and craftsmanship. It fits more snugly than Vass as Blackbirds are an E width whilst Vass are F widths. The F last in Vass is a really lovely last though

[@theshoesnob_official]

My pleasure and thank you! As per VASS, well it really depends on what you value. I value design/ last balance and last shape, all of which I prefer on VASS. Vass are also 100% handmade. But if you prefer quantity, then getting two of these for nearly the price of one VASS is a great deal. I won't say one is better or as good as the other as it's all subjective

[@mtbokor1969]

Awesome review. And their prices are incredible

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks Michael!

[@VasanBk]

India has always had great skilled artisans. The East India company went to India primarily seeking skilled labor. India was a manufacturing giant before the industrial revolution. But after the industrial revolution in England they needed markets more than manufacturing. Overnight the East India company destroyed millions of looms. Brutal force was used - they broke the thumbs of artisans. Yet , Indian skilled labor continues to flourish. The entire costumery for ‘Gladiator’ was manufactured in India. The reason for saying all this is, when I heard you say ‘they are hungry’, it seemed a little off to me. Yes, they are trying hard to break into international markets but, they are not ‘hungry’. Most of these artisans make a decent living. They were just not into heavy shoes like these, most likely because there is no market for it in india. Even today it makes no sense to wear these heavy shoes there. Most people wear chappals . They keep your feet cool. The point I am making is that quality is not a problem for Indians to match if it requires skilled labor. Where Indians usually fail is in customer service and management. Blackbird seems to be good at both. I expect good work from them. Thank you for your review.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing but you misunderstood what I said. Being hungry had nothing to do with hunger for food. Hungry to excel to markets outside of India is what I was referring to

[@mtbokor1969]

I just received the Romero model from BLKBRD. Patina shoe, also handelted, $154 USD.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Nice! enjoy them

[@kevinkarlsson7440]

Hello! Is this shoe also volumous in the middle part, as you mentioned the bridlen and elegal is?

[@theshoesnob_official]

It is more fitting, at least the wholecut was. But yes, generous in the toe box, but hugging in the arch area

[@riazali8408]

Hello sir Where is your shop

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@riazali8408 in NYC for 3 weeks more. Then online only.

[@irawanwijaya7951]

Plates and fiddle backs are extra charges... just ordered tassel loafer in museum calf. Museum calf is extra. I ordered the pagani last....the price around Rs 22,300 = usd 270

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you for the info!

[@vmugunthan4503]

I got a Seamless Wholecut from Blackbird. The quality is amazing. One of my best purchases. Wont be my last

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing V

[@iboofer]

I just got my pair and despite ordering my correct size and getting confirmation from a representative that the sizing seems correct, the shoes were too small and not customized to my feet. I'll eat the cost on these as they're not in returnable condition anymore, but I would recommend being REALLY on top of your correspondence with Blkbrd. This was a kind of bittersweet disappointment as the shoes look great and the quality is really what you'd think it is, but their communication is poor and it's hard to make sure they're following your requests.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thank you very much for sharing and sorry to hear that your experience was not perfect

[@iboofer]

@@theshoesnob_officialWas a lesson learned. Again, their craftsmanship is excellent, but phew, they were harder to pin down than a greased pig on an amusement park slide.

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@iboofer hahahaha

[@KFCJones]

I like on their website how the Oscar model is listed right above the Romero model. It's not often that the internet sends me secret messages about liberation theology, but when it does- I pay attention 😅

[@md.fahimhossain-ke6sy]

wow

[@VIKASSINGH-hk5nn]

Maine kharide h inke shoes Shoes is too good

[@gamemaker1234]

It's interesting made in India leather shoes are so much more cheaper than leather shoes made in other developing nations like China

[@theshoesnob_official]

Says a lot about labor costs

[@user-gg2nh7gh9o]

👠🪡