TGIF Shopping: Axel Arigato

In these days of fast fashion, new ideas are popping up weekly. That is why the smart fellas over at Axel Arigato release new shoes on a weekly basis.

The Swedish brand’s inaugural line has some serious swagger. These shoes are for the guy that starts dressing in the morning feet first and considers shoes to be the most important part of his outfit. From pony hair and leather to alligator, these kicks have confidence (as does the brand, check out their amusing story here). Most of the brands shoes are handmade and in Portugal and Italy. About 90 percent of the materials   they use are from Italy and shoes meet consumers less than three months after they were designed. The brand’s name comes from Axel the designer’s first name and “Arigato”, which means ‘thank you’ in Japanese.

Since the shoes are hand made they have an extreme amount of detail including leather soles and interiors as well as hand-stitched details. And for the crazy high quality they are basically being given away for free. The shoes will run you between $95-$200 depending on the style. If you’re not sure where to start we recommend their chukka style boots. They have some basic (but well done) black leather for the more conservative guy — as well as leopard pony hair and black alligator for the more adventurous. Another fun line they offer is their slipper, which features sexual innuendoes with emoji-like prints (see here). Not for work, but definitely great for home and going out. So the next time you want to break away from the standard boot and flannel, give these a go and raise some eyebrows.

If you decided to pick up a pair don’t for get to tag Axel and us on Instagram @themanualstyle and @axelarigato.