The Original Car Shoe, why accept pale imitations?

The Driving Shoe is one of those ubiquitous items of clothing that have entered the public conciousness never to be removed.  It is uncertain how many people truly use driving shoes for getting in their cars and driving, but pretty much every high end design house sells their own version of this item, from brands as lowly as Ted Baker, right up to the dizzying heights of Bottega Veneta, Hermes and Gucci.  Indeed Tod's have pretty much founded a business based on their Driving Shoes.

But where did they all start from?  The answer to this question is The Original Car Shoe.  Invented by an italian Artisan Gianni Mostile, and introduced to the world in 1963, the Original Car Shoe has been loved by some of the most powerful and stylish men of the 20th Century, including Gianni Agnelli, JFK and many others.  

Being copied by so many brands for so many years the Original Brand was largely forgotten, however an acquisition in 2001 by the Prada group, followed by a rapid expansion has reintroduced the Original brand who invented the item and establishing themselves as an Object of Desire once again.

What make The Original Car Shoe stand out is they make a particular effort to ensure that they present their product as more than just a shoe.  All the shoes are made by hand, as a video on the website shows, and the finished purchase boxed up provides you with a pair of shoe trees, a pair of shoe bags, a shoe horn and cleaning cloths (or brushes in the case of the suede).

Priced from €275 and available to purchase directly from their website www.carshoe.com they are available in a variety of colours and materials, from the classic suede to cordovan and Crocodile leather.