The “180” moccasin what with its shape that hasn’t changed since its original creation in 1946, still produced in accordance with fabrication processes dating back to 1946 in the original ateliers in Limoges, France, is now and probably will remain for a long time to come one of, or even, the emblematic style for the Weston brand. With its characteristic shape, its très Parisian style, and its multi-faceted history, this emblematic moccasin that alone accounts for 18% of total production for this luxurious French shoemaker, has traversed the years, timeless, without so much as a scratch in its leather sole. Today, for the opening of a new Paris boutique on the rue Saint-Honoré, the “180” is keeping its original shape but opting for some new colors, black followed by an ocean blue, just enough for a little facelift.
The “180” is first and foremost the story of a savoir-faire. To produce a single model, more than 150 operations are necessary for close to 2 months of fashioning, from cutting out the skin and the mounting process to stitching the shaft and cutting out the sole. This cult classic moccasin with an imposing presence brings together casual and seriousness with gusto. Some 200 shapes are used to achieve this to perfection, everything done with great respect for the shoemaking tradition. In Limoges, as writer Didier van Cauwelaert puts it in a book dedicated to Weston: “The tradition remains.” from the cambering to the stitches, from the sanding to the painting, everything is done manually aside from the cutting of the leather that has today been automatized.
Today, amongst the score of mythic essentials by this shoemaker on the boulevard Courcelles, the “180” style distinguishes itself not only with the technical legacy of its fabrication, but also with its atypical story. In Paris, some time before the tumultuous events of May 1968, in front of the Champs-Elysées drugstore of lore, young people from the 16th arrondissement bourgeoisie, the “Nappys”, stirred up a bit of trouble with the perfect wardrobe combo: a pair of Ray-Bans and Levi’s jeans finished off by a pair of Weston “180” “mocs”, nicknamed “Janson-de-Sailly” after the high school that these well-off teens attended. Weston’s “180” was strongly democratized by these youth today known as the Champs-Elysées rebels from the drugstore today called the Drugstore Publicis. And so, the “180” moccasin by J.M. Weston lives on, timeless, both through its prestigious fabrication and the rules proper to the brand and this model, an aristocracy that, while slightly tinged with rock’n’ roll, still aims for a certain prestige, a prestige that Weston has never forgotten.
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