When someone ’s hands have caringly crafted
our Shoes, our everyday connection to the earth
is transformed, as we are with every step.
them last. Today the Cordwainer Shop is
thriving, with nine craft show appearances
scheduled for 2010.
Rafi Balouzian also got his start search-
ing for a more comfortable shoe experience.
An avid walker, Balouzian wanted to make
a stylish shoe that would assist a “healthy,
efficient stride.” So he began developing
the unique molded leather sole that would
become the hallmark of CYD W O Q (pro-
nounced “sidewalk”) shoes.
With his father and great-grandfather
in the shoemaking business, Balouzian ab-
sorbed knowledge of the machines and ma-
terials of the trade at a young age growing
up in the Armenian diaspora in Beirut. After
college in California, he produced his first
shoe collection while working as a designer
for a Britain-based clothing line. Soon after,
Balouzian branched out on his own, launch-
ing CYD W O Q in 1996 with custom-made
machines and 12 highly skilled employees,
most still with him today.
Producing handmade shoes on a larger
scale, Balouzian focused on international
shoe expos instead of American craft fairs,
attracting mostly Japanese and European
customers at first, and eventually captur-
ing the North American markets. Today
Balouzian’s production team has more
than doubled in size and makes upward
of 35,000 pairs of shoes per year, each
handcrafted to order using water-based
glues, vegetable-tanned leathers and
age-old techniques.
With a background in architecture and
the eye of a sculptor, Balouzian designs
shoes by drawing directly onto the wooden
mold, or “last.” His highly structured
shapes, from angular to sinuous, are built
with rivets, unfinished edges, distressed
leather and minimal stitching. No aspect of
the style gets in the way of comfort; on the
contrary, these boots (and pumps and san-
dals) are definitely made for walking.
Shoes, a vehicle not only of personal
style but also of our most basic everyday
connection to the earth, protect and cel-
ebrate our feet. When someone’s hands
have caringly crafted our shoes, this every-
day connection is transformed, as we are
with every step.
Writer and curator Amy Shaw lives in Brook-
lyn, tvr.
*
cordwainercraftgallerv.com
cydwoq.com
www.journal-plaza.net & www.freedowns.net
fcb/mario american craft 033
