How to choose woven leather shoes
Woven leather is a technique in which the hide is cut into narrow strips and assembled into a mesh instead of being used as a single piece. TAJ women's shoes are built this way: the upper is not a continuous surface but a fabric made of leather, and that changes how the shoe behaves on the foot far more than how it looks.
A one-piece upper always flexes at the same point, and a crease forms there for good. A woven upper spreads the same movement over dozens of strips: it gives where it needs to, returns to shape and leaves no mark. That is why woven footwear feels comfortable from the first wear and needs none of the break-in a closed shoe demands. The advantage is paid for in toughness: a strip that is cut or scuffed cannot be repaired the way a whole upper can, so woven footwear is best kept away from sharp edges and rough surfaces.
Weaving gives in width, not in length. A wide foot or a high instep gains a few millimetres where it matters, but the size is still chosen on length, as with any other shoe: going half a size up in the hope that the mesh will stretch only leaves the foot sliding forward.
The gaps between the strips let air through, which is why weaving is a warm-weather technique. In exchange it offers no protection from water, which comes in through the openings and soaks the insole as well. Dust settles in the gaps and is removed with a soft, short-bristled brush before any other treatment.
Cream should be used sparingly and worked in with the brush, not with a cloth. On a continuous surface the excess spreads out by itself; on a woven surface it gathers in the gaps and, once dry, stays visible as a pale line along the edge of every strip. If the shoe gets wet it should dry away from any heat source: direct hot air stiffens the strips and curls them at the edges.
With the foot uncovered the choice comes down to the loafer, which closes the instep with a band, and the single-band sandal, which holds by friction and therefore needs a wide band rather than a tall one. Both shapes come back, in other materials and other heights, across the rest of the women's range.
