I opened the box and the first thing I saw was a pair of gray(grey) chopsticks! Axel Arigato is a brand that was founded in 2014. This company sells directly to its consumers via their website and through social media(Instagram). Ever since Instagram started spying on my conversations, my feed became overwhelmed with ads for this company’s shoes.
Gold “Arigato” logo on outside of left shoe
I really wanted to get these sneakers! I had already been looking for a sleek slip-on sneaker. I wanted something similar to the vachetta Vans slip-on released in 2016. Vachetta is just a fancy term for vegetable tanned leather and that is a fancy way of saying “If you get me wet, you will ruin me”. If you don’t remember that shoe, just look under this text for the image. I ran that sneaker in to the ground. The leather aged beautifully and it became my most comfortable, go-to sneaker. Until I lost them. #heartbroken
Vans Classic Slip-On DX in Vachetta Leather, Photo courtesy of KITH
So, I thought, “Why not give the fat, new sneaker company a chance?”(*) After all, they had been burning the image of their ads into my phone screen from showing up so much. I placed my order, waited 4 business days and was ready to tear the box open. The shoes arrived directly from Sweden. The box it arrived in was a narrow, thick-walled gray(grey) cardboard shell that was made in such a manner that begs you to keep the sneakers inside of it after you’re done wearing them.
Company name in silver foil and sizing barcode on the side
I tend to keep my shoe boxes, so this extra-nice box was just an added bonus for me. The first thing I noticed as I pulled the sneakers out of their protective, yet, wasteful plastic bag was the smell of the leather. The leather smells like walking in to a boutique designer store, although I’m sure it’s a bunch of tanning chemicals. I noticed how fine the grain of the leather was, which made me really excited to take some close-up shots of the shoe. I’m not sure if Axel Arigato buffs the top layer of the leather or just uses extremely high quality leather but the price makes me think I should go with the latter option.
First thing your dog sees when you come home
The design of the shoe was reminiscent of the Maison Margiela “Future” sneaker. The Axel Arigato version seemed to slim down the flaps/lips/tongues(?) and made the shoe more appealing to the general consumer while still standing out from regular slip-on sneakers. A classic silhouette with premium materials and made by human hands in Portugal? YES please! These shoes command a price that is higher than your average, buy-me-at-the-mall sneaker because of all that I just mentioned. Plus, when actual employees are spending hours on average to craft a shoe, you can justify the premium. I cannot wait to wear these sneakers into oblivion this year. After spending a couple of weeks with them, I can say they’re in it for the long-haul too. I’ll leave you with some pictures below.
Minimalistic sole, pretty grippy
Maison Margiela “Future”, not as polished as Axel Arigato
Beautifully stitched heel with matching thread
Stitched soles gasp
If there is something I will fault Axel Arigato for, it is the choice they made to add a non-functional zipper to the shoe. This is slightly offensive and I will tell you why. Vans has an elastic band and Maison Margiela has laces. My feet sweat sometimes. My feet sweat in the summer. Sometimes I have too much salt and my feet just become plain fat. The shoes already fit narrow as they are so for a zipper that doesn’t let me adjust anything to be included on this shoe is just plain wrong. It’s almost as if Axel Arigato designers said “You have skinny feet, good. Fat feet, not good.” Other than that, I’d say they’re great.
Non-functional zipper
Sleek and modern
Quick iPhone video I recorded after unpacking