Anne Thomas Shoes, Made in Portugal From Italian Leather

Anne Thomas is an independent French shoe house. It began in 2010 as a jewelry line and moved entirely into footwear in 2013, when Stéphane Salimochi started designing the shoes. Each style still begins as a drawing and is reworked until the line looks modern and the shoe feels comfortable from morning into evening. From the start, the goal has been well-made shoes at a price more people can reach, sold without logos or marketing noise.

Anne Thomas shoes are made in Portugal, in small family-run workshops in the Aveiro region. They are Portuguese leather shoes cut mostly from Italian leather, chosen by the house from some of Italy's best tanneries. Production is small and organized around two preorder periods a year, so the workshops make close to what has actually been ordered. Leather Mary Janes, which the house calls babies, are comfortable enough for a full day on foot and refined enough for tailored trousers. Leather slingbacks arrive seasonally alongside mules, pumps, ankle boots, and sandals, and the heeled styles are designed to be as comfortable as the flats. Anne Thomas brings its signature shapes back year after year in new leathers and colors. Some of those shapes have been part of the line since the very first collection.

Worn over fine socks or sheer tights, a pair of Mary Janes or slingbacks works well into autumn and winter. In warmer months, the same shoes go bare-legged under skirts and cropped trousers. Tailored trousers cut and sewn in New York City show the shoe beneath them with every step, which is reason enough to choose that shoe carefully. More leather shoes from small independent workshops pair just as well with them.