Pronounced “Ley-erh”, which fittingly rhymes with “maker”, the shoe brand takes its namesake from Llyr, a deity-like figure in Welsh mythology that might well be the metaphorical mascot of the brand. Founded in March 2013 by Alan Lee, Alvin Lee, and Teresa Chan, the trio is united in their penchant for well-crafted, yet affordable, shoes for the modern gentleman. While deeply influenced by a classic European design sensibility, peel back the well-dressed layers and you will find a distinctively Singaporean brand that stands by a firm belief that every man could and should own (at the very least) a pair of well-made elegant pair of shoes – Shoes that maketh the Man.
One such man is a Mr Harvey – a top bloke that LLYR had met on an artisanal sole searching sourcing trip. His being, his kindness, and the stories he had to share inspired the Harvey Adelaide, an Oxford pair named after him from LLYR’s latest Autumn/Winter ‘13/14 collection. The essence of this Classic range falls to pared-down simplicity, and utilizes French Vocalou Calf from the famed tannery, Tannerie d’Annonay. Each pair in the collection is named after a real-life person that inspired LLYR’s journey.
The new classics are embodied in Arthur, a pair of double monks in Vocalou Calf with an understated tooled medallion on the toebox, and, Morgan Blind Brogue with its broguing on the wingtips and medallion. In this collection, the forms are clean and elegant; soft square last is incorporated, and gimping is eschewed on brogues for cleaner, sleeker silhouettes. The collection’s colour palette is befittingly simple too – functional Browns and Blacks – simple, but rich in hue tones ranging from smoky caramel to rich browns and velvet blacks with antiquing burnish effects.
Standing distinctively apart from the Classic range is the exclusive George Wholecut oxfords cut out of high grade Italian Brown Radica calf. The usually minimal Wholecut style is an understated tooled medallion on the toebox, and given an antiquing finish for richness and depth. This premium beauty also features close channel stitching and a fiddleback waist – handcrafted and finished by artisans – the hardest detail to add to any crafted shoe, and a mark of LLYR’s pride for craftsmanship.
LLYR is made for the gentleman with an appreciation for timeless elegance; one who also boasts an insouciant sense of studied carelessness – perhaps the trademarks of an idiosyncratic modern dandy; sartorially inclined but also, nonchalant.
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