Even Allen Edmonds Has Never Made Shoes This Nice Before

Even at $425, the going rate for its most popular shoe, Allen Edmonds offers good value. It’s a testament to the quality of craftsmanship you can expect from the heritage American brand founded in 1922. No wonder Allen Edmonds has sold over two-million pairs of the Park Avenue oxford since it debuted in the 1980s.

Now the brand wants to raise its own bar, said Jay Schmidt, president and CEO of Allen Edmonds’s parent company, Caleres. And it plans to do that with a new high-end line called the Reserve Collection that showcases the brand’s “belief that the traditional way of making shoes is the best way,” it says.

Allen Edmonds Reserve Collection

Like its evergreen styles, the models in Allen Edmonds’s new collection are made, by hand, in Port Washington, WI. There are eight in total, including brogues, loafers, cap-toes and derby boots, with prices ranging from $800 to $3,000.

Allen Edmonds

According to the brand, the shoes undergo a rigorous 400-step process that includes stitching, staining and painting — all by hand. It takes 72 hours, and 14 craftspeople, to complete a single pair.