John Lobb By Request: How to Customize Your Own Pair

A John Lobb, Shaped Around You

Some clients find their pair on the shelf. Others know exactly what they want, and it simply does not exist yet: the Lopez in a navy suede, a Lawry on a lighter sole, a City II with a russet sole edge that only they will notice.

That is what John Lobb By Request is for. It takes the house's Ready-to-Wear models and opens them up to your choices: the leather and its color, the sole, the lining, the buckle finish, even the elastic on a Chelsea boot. The pair is then made for you in John Lobb's workshop in Northampton.

At The Hand, we guide every By Request commission personally, in our Amsterdam boutique or remotely. This guide explains how it works, so you can arrive with ideas, or simply with curiosity.

From London to Paris: The House Behind Your Pair

John Lobb was founded in London in 1866 as a bespoke bootmaker. In 1902 the house opened its Paris workshop, and since 1976 it has been part of Hermès. Today its Ready-to-Wear is made in Northampton, while bespoke is still made by hand in Paris.

By Request sits between those two worlds. You keep the proportions and lasts of the house's Ready-to-Wear, refined over decades, and add the personal decisions that once belonged only to bespoke. Read more about the house and how it arrived at The Hand in our John Lobb launch story.

Step 1: Choose Your Style

The current By Request offer covers 30 styles, grouped by John Lobb into Iconics and Classics. The Iconics are the house signatures, several of them also available on the New Standard foundation: a sturdier, lug-soled version of the same model. The Classics complete the wardrobe, from formal oxfords to boots and relaxed loafers.

Not sure where to start? Many clients begin with a model they already own and love, then change one thing. A Lopez in a new leather makes a natural first commission, and a Lawry or Peak is an easy choice for fall and winter. For the more relaxed side of the house, see John Lobb Beyond the Icons and our story on the Pace.

Step 2: Confirm Your Last and Fit

Every John Lobb style is built on a last, the form that decides the shape and fit of the shoe. Your size is only the beginning: width, instep and heel matter just as much, which is why we always start By Request with fit.

Most styles come in several fittings. Extended sizes are available on many models: sizes 3 to 4H in D and E fittings on selected Iconics, and sizes 12H to 14 in fittings D to G on most styles (not on Pace, Foil and Smith). Pace and Foil are made in E fitting only.

In the boutique, we use fitting shoes and your reference pairs to find your last and size. Joining remotely, you share your size history and a few simple photos, and we confirm the fit with you before anything is ordered. Read more in Finding Your Fit: Why Your Shoe Size Is Only the Beginning.

Step 3: Choose Your Leather and Color

This is where a pair becomes yours. The By Request palette offers 18 leather types in more than 80 leather and color combinations, from deep black calf to soft sand suede. On many styles you can choose a different leather or color for each part of the shoe: the vamp, the toe cap, the saddle or apron, the backstrap.

Smooth leathers give a shoe its polish and its patina over the years:

• Calf and Oxford calf: the classic choice, from black and dark brown to oxblood, midnight and dark green.
• Museum calf: hand-finished with a mottled, layered depth. Dark brown, Parisian brown, plum and bracken among others.
• Marble, misty and burnished calf: character leathers with a cloudy, almost painterly finish.
• Patent and velvet: for evening.

Suede and nubuck are softer and more relaxed, and wear beautifully in fall: navy, olive, Parisian brown, tobacco, sand, charcoal and many more.

Grained leathers add texture and resilience for wet days: soft grain, gentle grain, light grain, Moorland grain, pebble grain and museum caviar.

New this season: museum calf in navy, gentle grain in black and dark brown, light grain in midnight, and nubuck in sage and moka.

We keep leather samples in the boutique. Joining remotely, we send you photos of the options that suit your style, so you can see them in daylight.

Step 4: Choose Your Sole

The sole changes how a shoe wears as much as how it looks. Options depend on the style:

• Leather soles, single or double, with the edge and waist finished in classic tan, russet or navy. A double sole adds presence and weather resistance.
• Prestige soles on the most formal styles (Philip II, Edward, Marldon, Alford, Chapel and others), with the same russet and navy finishes.
• Rubber soles for city and weather: the classic rubber sole, the Flexi Rasp, the Lightweight Walking sole and the Medium Lug sole.
• The Hilly sole, a deep-cleated rubber sole for the New Standard models, the Peak and selected boots.
• Oval Flexi soles for the Pace and Foil, in black, dark brown, cream, almond green or mahogany.

For fall and winter, a Lawry or Peak on a Hilly or Lightweight Walking sole is the pair you reach for on wet Amsterdam mornings. For the office, a City II on a double leather sole with a navy waist is a quiet detail only you will know is there.

Step 5: The Finishing Details

The smallest choices are often the ones clients remember most.

• Linings: natural, russet, navy or black on the Iconics and the Smith, while the most formal Classics come with a black lining. Some styles, such as the Bath, James, Pace and Manchester Soft, are unlined for a softer, lighter feel.
• Buckles: palladium, rose gold, gold or anthracite on the William, Delano II, Chapel, Abbot and Philip II Double Buckle. The Moorfields comes in palladium or anthracite.
• Elastics: on the Lawry and Lawry New Standard, choose a standard elastic or a two-tone combination such as black and brown, or midnight and russet.
• Toe designs: three perforated toe patterns on the City II and Philip II, in smooth leathers.
• Eyelets: palladium or anthracite on the Alder and Peak.
• Initials: most order forms include a field for your initials. Ask us how they are applied on your chosen style.

How a By Request Commission Works at The Hand

1. Share your starting point. A model you love, a photo, a problem you want solved. Your size history and favorite pairs help us most.
2. Fit first. In the boutique we confirm your last and size with fitting shoes. Remotely, we prepare it with you in advance.
3. Build the specification. Style, leathers and colors, sole, lining and details, written down on John Lobb's order form so nothing is left to chance.
4. Confirm and order. You receive a clear summary with pricing and lead time before anything is ordered. Delivery typically takes 8 to 12 weeks.
5. Collect or receive your pair. In Amsterdam, or delivered to you, with duties and taxes calculated at checkout outside the EU.

As with every Made-to-Order pair, a By Request commission is made for you alone and cannot be returned. That is exactly why we take the time to get the fit and the specification right together.

This Fall: By Request Without the Customization Fee

On Friday, November 20 and Saturday, November 21, Sanche de Laage of John Lobb joins us in Amsterdam. For these two days only, By Request commissions are offered at the Ready-to-Wear price, in the boutique or remotely. Nicola Ricci of Sciamat joins us too, for bespoke tailoring. Request your appointment on the event page.

Start Your Pair

You do not need to arrive with a finished design. Bring a pair you love, an idea, or a question, and we will think it through with you, from the first fitting to the last detail.

BOOK AN APPOINTMENT · DISCOVER JOHN LOBB

Prefer to message? WhatsApp us on +31 6 4696 3386 or write to hello@meetthehand.com.

Dennis & Eveline, Founders The Hand

Photography: Niall Hodson for John Lobb. Styling: Nicholas Galletti.