I’ve long been an admirer of Cydwoq, a brand devoted to handmade shoes made of the finest leather and with truly unique designs. And I do mean unique–as in this asymmetrical Mary Jane in distressed vegetable-tanned leather:

Cydwoq
or these floral ankle-straps with an unusual cutout vamp and patchwork:
cydwoq-floral
or these triple-buckle Mary Janes, in fiery coral:
cydwoq red
I love the futuristic, highly original design, the colors, and the architectural construction. The website will give you more information about the history of the brand, driven by the vision of its designer, Rafi Balouzian. He was kind enough to answer my questions about his creations. For example, did you know that CYDWOQ stands for sidewalk? Yeah, me neither! (And now I know how to pronounce it properly, too). Also, you can order any model directly from the factory and in any color you want. There are 250 different leathers available, and they will make your shoes to order. How awesome is that!
Well, so they’re funky, original, attractive–but are they comfortable? Mr. Balouzian assures us so. Let me quote him:
CYDWOQ are very comfortable because the insoles and the outsoles are shaped with the shape of the foot, and it is the closest you get to walking barefoot, which is how humans are designed to walk. CYDWOQs have adjustable arch support. If the arch is too high, it will either adjust in a few days to your arch or you can manually push it down. Several of our customers have stopped wearing orthotics claiming that CYDWOQs are more supportive. But we do not guarantee that that will be the case to every person. Each foot has it own fit condition.
Very reasonable, and fair enough! I don’t think that one can ask more from a shoe, to be honest with you. And now, there’s only that little nagging question about the price. Well, you guessed it, they don’t exactly come cheap, but at about $250-350 a pop, they’re not all that expensive either, especially for a handmade, comfortable, high quality, beautiful, interesting shoe that will make you stand out in the crowd. Shoes like these:
cydwoq mule
or these:
cydwoq pump
or these:
cydwoq green
or these:
Cydwoq sandal
You can find CYDWOQ shoes at a few online retailers: Bulo Shoes, Shoostore, Gravity Pope, Shoefly, Ped Shoes, Niche, A Mano shoes, Gypsy Moon, Everysell, or on their own website. I’d better start saving up right now!