28 AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 1 2008
PHOTOGRAPHSBYMATTBRASIER
B U S I N E S S
ThERE IsNoATTRACTIvE gREETER
towelcome you
and usher you in. There’s no hard sell. There’s no ex-
pensive lighting, no trendymusic playing, no blowout
sales—almost none of themodernamenities shoppers
have grown accustomed to. And there’s nothing unin-
tentional about it.
JohnLobbLtd. isaLondon institution.Thecompany
—whose tiny solitary shop is locatedablockaway from
St. James Palace, in one of London’s tony shopping
districts— has been known for one thing since its in-
ception in 1849: crafting thebest shoesmoney canbuy.
Andevenas thebespoke-suitmakersnearbyonhistoric
Savile Row have gone mod— bringing in young hot-
shot tailors like Richard James, Timothy Everest, and
Ozwald Boateng to appeal to a younger demographic
— John Lobb remains a testament to old-world con-
vention.
“Nothing has changed since the firmwas founded,”
says store chairman John Hunter Lobb, a slight hint
of steely pride creeping into his restrained demeanor.
He relentlessly upholds the bygone traditions that his
great-grandfather, the shop’s founder and namesake,
instituted nearly 160 years ago. And it’s not just the
store’s look that is unchanged. The production process
remains the same aswell: Lobb’s 45 highly skilled em-
The
Cobblers
Who says they don’tmake ’em
like they used to?The folks at
JohnLobbLtd. inLondon stick
withwhatworks.
ByGregKatz
JohnLobbLtd. interior
