Release 010826 — Opening release
Rule number one.
The first ARTOIS release was ten pairs, and they were gone in a day. It started, though, with a tin of leather grease that smelled terrible, and a pair of boots I had already ruined.
Rule number one when owning something in leather: take care of it.
My mom used to have this horrible leather grease. The smell was indescribable — the kind that finds you in another room. Despite the smell, I used it. I used it because a previous pair of leather boots had already shown me how it ends if I don't.
The smell was indescribable. I used it anyway.
The boots before these
They were a good pair, and I did nothing for them. Leather does not forgive that. It dries out, it cracks along the flex points, and then one day the shoe you liked is a shoe you keep in a cupboard because you can't quite bring yourself to throw it out.
That pair is the reason ARTOIS ships with a care manual rather than a leaflet.
Ten pairs
010826 was ten pairs. Hand-stitched split-toe leather, cut in one small batch, and spoken for within a day of opening.
Ten isn't a marketing number. It is what a batch of hand-cut, hand-sewn shoes actually comes to, which is why the next release works the same way.
Which is why there's a manual
Brush off the dust. Condition the leather when it starts to look pale. Dry it slowly, never on a radiator. Store it with its shape. That's a few minutes every few weeks, and it is the whole difference between a pair that ages and a pair that simply wears out.
All of it is written down in the care manual.
Ten pairs at a time. The list gets first access.
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