ORIGINAL PLAYBOY

The story of Original Playboy begins in 1936 in Northampton, England, when a shoemaker launches a revolutionary shoe — a patented natural crepe sole construction that earns it the tagline "The Easiest Shoe on Earth". Worn by royalty from 1937 (Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands orders her third pair that year), then by the Duke of Windsor, the Play-Boy shoe crosses the Atlantic in the 1940s and becomes in the 1950s-60s the understated signature of a certain idea of relaxed style. Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando and Miles Davis wear it — on and off screen. Britain's Teddy Boys adopt it as a symbol of rebellion. Ivy League students as a mark of distinction. And decades later, the Beastie Boys bring it back into New York hip hop culture. When the English owner closes in the 1970s, the Danish Fabian family — two generations of shoemakers — takes over, acquires the brand, designs and tooling, and continues making every pair by hand in trusted family-run factories in Portugal. Hand-stitched loafers, chukka boots, derbies and lace-ups — every silhouette carries 90 years of history. Available at EMPR in Pau and worldwide.