The Arca from legendary Maison Corthay, an avant-garde superstar of shoe design and icon of the contemporary school of French shoemaking: undubitably extravagant and detailed, yet streamlined, simplistic and sleek.

A two eyelet Derby with a subtly beveled waist and an elongated, chiseled toebox, designed to be worn with inverted lacing and a dandy demeanor. The leather sole is hand-stitched, and all materials are sourced in France.

While spectacular design wise, its clean lines makes it more versatile than one might think. Many are those who marvel at the brightly painted and painstakingly glazed pieces of shoe art that Maison Corthay are known to create, but if the myriad of exotic or strikingly patinated leathers that the Arca often gets made up in aren’t what you are currently looking for, the more subdued colourways will easily bring an aura of savoir-faire to anything from conservative business dress to blue jeans.

When the shoe was originally designed in 1991, Pierre Corthay named the shoe as a tribute to his grandfather’s yacht L’Arca, on which he spent many magical evenings learning the art of navigating the Mediterranean Sea by the stars. This also happens to be the fountain of inspiration behind the company symbol, the Corthay star.