We've covered FEIT in the past, and always admired their directional stance. Recently, we were able to get a sneak peek at the new direction of the company. FEIT have emerged from the GFC as an internet-only business with some sharp ideas. You can read their manifesto below, it's certainly packing a meaty punch. Freed from the constraints of "Flamboyant marketing budgets, unsustainable rents, saturation sales targets and the reckless pursuit of growth", FEIT have shown there is a new way of doing business.
This Moc Mid is the first drop of product and the results speak for themselves. You get a boot that is totally made by the hand of master craftsmen. The material is Kudu suede, which is the most insanely soft, most premium, most luxurious leather we've ever fondled. (The Kudu is a large antelope that grazes in the bushveld areas of Southern Africa and is hunted in limited numbers to maintain ecological balance in national parks. Living wild ensures a lean fat to muscle ratio resulting in a strong tight skin!) The shoes are also lined with super-soft leather, which is nice if you don't like socks or have foot-pong.
Throw all of that magic on a quality Vibram sole and you have the makings of a serious piece of business.
Normally you would expect such a shoe to nudge the $4-500 mark easily, but as FEIT note in their manifesto, with all the overheads removed, the huge savings are passed on to the consumer. They have also worked out a neat method of limited production, whereby the Maximum Capacity is dictated by the availability of materials that they have to hand. In this case there's only 17 pairs in the grey and 32 pairs in the black, simply because that's the limit of Kudu that is available right now.
This was so intriguing, we recently sat down with Tull Price, the founder of FEIT, for an interview which you can read in Issue 18 of Sneaker Freaker. (out soon!) It's quite a story and one which makes sense more than ever in this topsy-turvy world. Check back in a few weeks and we'll have the second round of shoes ready to show.
To order your pair of FEIT Moc Mids, hit them up at their new site.
If you pre-order now you'll get 10% off and free shipping!
FEIT PRESS RELEASE
We've been quietly making shoes at FEIT for a few years now but our passion has always been the same – we use the finest materials to craft beautiful footwear with a distinctive edge. We love making shoes. It's in our blood you could say.
However, for some time now, we have felt that from a business perspective, there had to be a better way. The system needs to be corrected. Flamboyant marketing budgets, unsustainable rents, saturation sales targets and the reckless pursuit of growth creates a toxic bubble that as we all know, inevitably bursts.
Something has to give. Usually it's the quality of the raw materials.
So we decided to step back and think for a minute. What would be the most efficient method to design, manufacture and then deliver FEIT products? How do we maintain the quality of everything we do without breaking the bank? The answer is a totally new approach
Utilising traditional methods to make our shoes by hand has enabled us to re-engineer FEIT in a more precise and efficient way. Scheduling our production during periods of low demand speeds up the process and eases the pressure to expand exponentially.
More importantly, we use the best materials found on earth. We're also careful to minimise wastage. If there's enough Kudu leather to make 25 pairs of our beautiful MOC MID, that's all we will make until the next shoes are released. We also use all natural materials, none of which are artificially dyed. Think of us as a modern day cobbler...
The reason we can do this is that we've made the bold move to only sell our shoes online via FEIT Direct. With this approach there's no middlemen to pay and no greedy machine to satisfy. Our shoes will be available in very limited quantities with the highest of old fashioned quality. You'll also have the option to pre-order them before they're made and receive a discount.
All of which adds up to a lean FEIT machine that operates at what we call Maximum Capacity. Your reward is to pay a lot less than you normally would for such beautifully tailored shoes.
It's not a revolution, but it is a new way of doing things.
Tull Price
Shoemaker
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