visvim fbt elk - what is it all about?
Visvim is THE footwear brand for the last 2 / 3 years. Many people love this brand and spent lot of money for their products but hardly know what’s about it. Today I wanna share some details with you and hopefully it will explain why they charge the money they charge.
Upper
The leather of the upper is out from elk. It is buttery soft and provides the comfort like no other. Even Kangaroo leather is not close. So the price starts already here since the leather is quite expensive; check this http://www.thetanneryinc.com/leather.html
As most of the shoes you can find these days are either board lasted or build on a strobel construction - on the FBTs you will find the moccasins construction. What does is mean exactly?
The moccasin construction is strobel -ed in the front (forefoot) and board lasted in the back (heel area). (check the pic) So besides the construction is more comfy, it insists more material since the leather goes all around the forefoot and “hugs” or better say “wrap” your foot. And the construction itself is more complicated and insists more people to work on. This part I will not repeat again in the Tooling part.
Tooling (Outsole)
Obviously this is the most expensive part; the outsole. The molds needs to be amortize and since the volume of Visvims are quite low the costs is “shared” with the units that are produced.
Overall these are the costs, of course, hiring a designer and all the facilities are calculated in each unit and if you go to F.I.L. and see how much space they have for each product then you realize where all your money went.
How is the design?
Regardless what someone is saying - this brand changed the entire shoe game. Look at those big brands that started to copy this silhouette. From Gucci biting the native American touch to all the brands that started to have the boat toe (vamp).
What can be improved? What is not so convincing?
1. Laces
The laces are out of leather and are not very convenient. They are always un done. Probably a mixture of leather and a textile would be more effective.
2. Inner Sock
I am missing deeply a binding / piping at the end towards the forefoot. Guys its another 20 cents. Sorry saved on the wrong side.
3. Midsole
The EVA of the midsole needs some improvments. I wore mine max. 35 times and its not that comfy anymore.
I know my homeboy Eugene (Hypebeast) wear his FBT barefoot > barefoot and they are too thin, so that you foot hurt after a short period of time. On the other side it trains your muscle in your foot.
http://hypebeast.com/2008/12/sneaker-freaker-best-of-the-best-2008/
4. Elk Leather
It is really comfort and a true luxury to use Elk leather. But since it is such a oily leather the glue needs to be a more special one.
The toe wrap needs to be glued with a stronger glue.
5. Outsole
Again the outsole is not very durable. The colored pieces came off after a short period of time.
Go hard or go home,
ac
