Maine St – Toe-To-Toe With The Wild West

In my experience, people who love quality raw denim also tend to love their footwear. Browse any denim forum and you will find a footwear section, browse any footwear section and you will see a host of familiar names, Whites, Viberg, Red Wings, Chippewa, Thorogood and WESCO to name but a few.

In the world of denim and work wear, boots are big business and the perfect accessory to have poking out of the end of your jeans.

Hand dyeing the rough out leather

Hand dyeing the rough out leather

Boots and jeans simply look good together, and Maine St of Jakarta, Indonesia are crafting some of the most stunning boots that you’ve probably never heard of. Their footwear is handmade using top grade materials from world famous tanneries like Horween, and their styles vary from chunky work boots with a thick Vibram Christy wedge sole, to delicate brogues made from full top cuts of leather, with the brogue detailing punched by hand.

The Breed brogue shoe with the Vibram Christy sole

The Breed brogue shoe with the Vibram Christy sole

Maine St are growing. Their styles show a brand searching for an identity, clearly with craftsmen more than capable of setting their skills to produce what the customer desires. Owner, Randy Irwan, is a man eager to show his customers what he and his brand can do.

The brand’s Facebook page shows images of the boots being handcrafted and sewn and how Irwan is a perfectionist. If something he designs ends up looking like, in his words, “just a normal boot”, it is disregarded immediately. His singular vision is to create footwear that impresses.

The Painter, oxford style shoe

The Painter, oxford style shoe

Diving into the detail, Maine St use a goodyear welt for durability on their wide variety of leathers, including smooth dress, oiled pull up, rough out and pebbled. The choice is as wide and varied as their range. From a country who already boast internationally marketed and recognised brands such as Sagara and BNV, Maine St have the ambition to take on the big boys of quality footwear, their new ranges are designed and made with a firmly “international” flavour.

Particular attention should be paid to their Charly Boot, which if adorned by a Viberg or Whites label would be gaining significant attention across style forums.

The Charly boot in brown pull up leather

The Charly boot in brown pull up leather

Maine St are, in my opinion, one of the finest quality brands coming out of the emerging markets in South East Asia. Their skills and materials will ensure that any buyer from Europe or North America will find that they have purchased high quality, hard wearing, hand made work boots. All for a price which pales at the side of the traditional big boys. Maine St are another brand to keep a watchful eye on.

Attaching a Vibram Christy sole

Attaching a Vibram Christy sole