John Lobb

John Lobb is best known today as the Hermès-owned ready-to-wear shoemaker that makes premium Goodyear-welted men’s dress shoes. The same name also belongs to an independent bespoke bootmaker at 9 St James’s Street in London, which makes only made-to-measure footwear. They share a 19th-century name and little else: two companies, two owners, two very different businesses.

The two John Lobbs

Sorting out the split explains the price, the construction, and where the shoes are made. John Lobb Ltd is the original bespoke bootmaker. It has stayed with the Lobb family, works from St James’s Street in London, and makes only bespoke and made-to-measure shoes fitted to the customer’s feet. It has never belonged to Hermès.

The ready-to-wear house is the company behind johnlobb.com, the boutiques, and the seasonal collections. Hermès has owned it since 1976. Its shoes are premium, Goodyear-welted, and made in England and France. When most people picture John Lobb today, this is the company they mean, and it is the one this page is about.

Behind the name

The story starts with John Lobb the man, a Cornishman born in 1829. He began making boots in Australia during the gold rush in 1849, a long way from the shop he would later open in London in 1866, and he died in 1895. His London workshop became one of the most respected bespoke bootmakers in the world, sought out by clients who wanted shoes built to the exact shape of their feet. That bespoke service is still the heart of the independent London house.

Hermès and the ready-to-wear house

Hermès acquired a controlling interest in the Paris arm of the business in 1976, and from that year the name ran on two separate paths under two owners. The ready-to-wear house took the Lobb name to a far wider audience. It launched its first ready-to-wear collection in 1982 and opened its first ready-to-wear store in Paris in 1990. Its shoes are made in Northampton in England and in France, drawing on both traditions. Hermès ownership gives that business a powerful backer while keeping it fully separate from the London workshop.

The shoes

Three models anchor the ready-to-wear house. The William is its signature double-monk-strap shoe, with a design dating to the 1940s and widely credited with establishing the double-monk as a style of its own. The Lopez is a saddle-strap loafer from the 1950s, and the Lawry is an elastic-sided Chelsea boot that works under tailoring or with denim. All three use Goodyear welting, so a pair can be resoled and rebuilt and stay in service for decades. For boots in this register, see our guide to the best boots for men, and for the lighter end our best desert boots for men.

Where it sits

The ready-to-wear John Lobb sits at the top tier of ready-to-wear men’s dress shoes: Goodyear-welted, made in England and France, and sold through its own boutiques and the top luxury retailers. Pricing is premium and runs into four figures, reflecting the construction, the materials, and a 19th-century name now carried by Hermès. Among the English shoemakers, Church’s and Grenson hold their own Northampton heritage, while John Lobb occupies the higher, more exacting end of English ready-to-wear.