A Closer Look at the $10,000 Louis Vuitton Manhattan Richelieu Men’s Shoes

If you consider yourself a well turned out man, or you’d like to, there is more to fashion than which tie to wear and whether your shoe color needs to match with anything. For those in the know, you can get outstanding tie tacks, exceptionally high-quality shirts, and other fashion accouterments if you know where to look. However, none of it matters if you don’t have a good pair of wingtips to waltz around in comfort and style.

Dress Down, Dress Up

You could try to go ultra casual and dress it down with sneakers. Perhaps a nice summer suit can be extra casual if you grab some Balenciaga’s for your beach stroll. Realistically, not every outfit works with a dressed down ugly-is-pretty set of kicks, even if they are comfortable. There’s a place for every shoe, and learning how to pair them like you pair wine and cheese is a skill every gentleman needs to develop. When you need to show off your class and good taste with something a little more upscale and a lot less ugly, the Louis Vuitton Manhattan Richelieu is the only way to go for opulent footwear. Not every man can pay ten grand for his shoes, but when you can, you only want the best. As formal footwear goes, it doesn’t get better than these stellar shoes.

LV History

Officially LV is called Louis Vuitton Malletier, but few people use the full formal title anymore. With over a century of history-making finely detailed clothing and accessories, and even luggage, Louis Vuitton and the Vuitton family are truly master artisans. Louis Vuitton founded his fashion house in 1854. The original atelier in Asnières is just north of the center of Paris. It has become iconic in its own right. Originally housing a mere 20 craftsmen, the business had expanded to employ 100 by 1900 and double that within less than twenty years. Expansions were added over time. The most famous of which was the Vuitton family home. Though the old family home is now a museum, the atelier has never been moved and has around a hundred and seventy employees on site to this day. They use this unique location to create the custom orders that come in from everywhere in the world, and the luggage the company is famous for.

Recent History

While some machines (like sewing machines) are used in the production, parts of the process are still done by hand as they’ve always been. Though LV is known for it’s trademarked fabric and bag making prowess, the shoes they make are a relatively recent addition in the company’s history. It was 1996 before LV expanded to the wider fashion world by asking Helmut Lang, Azzedine Alaïa, Sybilla, Manolo Blahnik, Vivienne Westwood, Isaac Mizrahi, and Romeo Gigli to create with their trademarked and often copied fabric. Manhattan Richelieu shoes are a perfect example of the sort of luxurious item you might need to order. Though these shoes came out in 2010, and they might consider the style too outdated to replicate almost a decade later, they are genuinely timeless like a little black dress. If you could get a new pair of these shoes, your best bet would be to inquire of the atelier in Asnières.

The Details

Perhaps it’s true that clothes don’t make the man, but the right clothes can certainly make him stand out in a crowd. The Louis Vuitton, Manhattan Richelieu shoes, will help any man show off his wealth and excellent sense of fashion. When only the finest will do, you need these to cap off your look and show your best face to the world. What makes one shoe cheap and another valuable? Is it the brand name alone? We think it’s evident that a name can add value to any object, but there’s more to it or every pair of Louis Vuitton shoes would be worth a mint. The truth is that craftsmanship matters more than you think. You have to know what you’re looking at to understand why it would matter.

The Parts of a Shoe

You may not think much about what your shoes are made of, beyond the materials, but quality begins with how your shoe is made. To understand why this shoe is so valuable, you need to know a little about the parts of a shoe. According to Shoeguide.org, there are as many as twenty parts to your shoe. Each one must fit with the whole and feel good on your foot to create a cohesive and comfortable whole. In the case of the Manhattan Richelieu, the upper and welt are probably the most outstanding features. The Upper and Sole make up the entirety of a shoe. The Upper is naturally on top of your foot with the sole below. The welt, on the other hand, is the piece that joins the two parts together.

The Upper

For the MR, the Upper of the shoe is entirely comprised of alligator leather. This type of leather is prized for its beautiful pattern and its supple feeling. Obviously, getting alligator leather is a bit more dangerous than typical cow leather or other soft leathers made from herbivores. If you’re wondering why its the teeth of course. Exquisite cutouts along the seams give your MR a beautiful delicate detail that doesn’t detract from the masculine appeal of the shoe in the least. The tongue also has a unique feature in the cut along the top edge. They’ve used a zig-zag pinking shear like cut to give it fierce visual appeal beyond the basic curve.

Blake Welt

Among shoe lovers, there are two schools of thought. Fans of the Goodyear welt say it’s more comfortable on the sole. Indeed, it is bulkier and less supple, but it also allows for easy resoling of shoes when they’ve been worn a while. The Blake Welt is a little more complicated. It cannot be done by hand since the stitching happens inside the shoe. However, with less bulk and more malleability, it leaves a shoe more wearable right out of the box. It takes less time to break them in.

The Ruthenium Plated Cube

Though it’s a tiny detail, the cube embedded in the hell that bears the well known LV trademark is part of the added value in this shoe. As we’ve said, there’s value in a name, though without quality the name value would decrease. That’s hardly the issue here. Moreover, beyond the essential value of the name on your shoe, this particular cube is also Ruthenium-plated. The incredibly rare metal isn’t something you find in most shoes, and it’s a member of the platinum family that has many uses, among them plating wedding rings.

Final Thoughts

Arguably the most expensive men’s dress shoes on earth, the Manhattan Richelieus are undoubtedly rare and exquisite on their own. Paired correctly with the right classic tie (double Windsor please), a great set of cufflinks and an elegant suit, there’s nothing we can say that a low whistle and a look of appreciation won’t say for us far more expressively. If you simply must have the best, then you’ll have to ask Louis Vuitton to reissue a pair of custom MR’s just for you.