Born in Brooklyn. Handcrafted in Spain. Shipped to your door.

The Douglas Morgan Experience.

Our partners at work.

“DOUGLASMORGAN products are handcrafted by some of the best artisans in Spain. This unique bespoke brand embodies refinement and quality. Doron, the designer of the Douglas Morgan brand, was inspired by the classic gentleman style of his father, grandfather, and uncle where the name derived.”

  • Ubrique, Spain | A History of Craftsmanship

    The Castilians, the Mudejars of the Kingdom of Granada, who know the techniques of leatherworking and the guadamecíes, the Moors from Granada, as well as the foreign dealers, especially Genoese, meet and share the different traditions of leatherwork in Ubrique. The leather trade in this beautiful white town of the Sierra de Cádiz acquired a fully international character.

    In the mid-18th century, leather workshops began to open in Ubrique. Small leather cases to carry tobacco begin to be manufactured almost industrially. Appearing the first leather goods workshops, establishments where the famous leather articles are made in this unique Andalusian town. It is from then on when the fame of Ubrique begins to grow and take recognition throughout the country and beyond its borders. Between the years 1885-1930, a group of great local creators gave notorious fame to the manufacture of Ubrique.

  • A rich tradition of skilled artisanry.

    At one point the entire production and manufacturing of luxury leather goods including the tanning process and the leatherwork was all done in Ubrique. Today, the leather is tanned elsewhere, but the skilled labor is still strong as every as more than half of Ubrique’s population is in some way involved in the leather industry.

  • Luxury Shoes and Accessories. Handcrafted from start to finish.

    From luxury dress shoe styles to casual, sport or specialty shoe collections (golf shoes, natural jute espadrilles, etc). Luxury Travel Bags, Handbags, Belts and small Leather Goods like cigar cases, phone cases, and more.

    All our items are handmade in Spain using the best selected leather skins and sartorial fabrics. The best artisans collaborate in the manufacture process by hand-cutting, hand-painting and hand-stitching every product.

 

Artisan Shoe Construction Methods

There are three basic methods of shoe construction: cementing, Blake welting, and Goodyear welting. For our Men's Dress collection, we use both Blake and Original Goodyear welting methods. Each of them has its advantages, and defines how the sole is attached to the upper.

When talking about high-end footwear, the Goodyear Welt is often contrasted with the Blake stitch. With the Blake stitch, the upper is sewn directly to the sole, and it generally creates a more flexible type of shoe. On the other side, Original Goodyear Welting process has been associated with excellence and superior workmanship, involving +50 craftsmen and +100 handcrafted phases on each pair.

 
 

Sign of superior quality - Goodyear Welt

In 1872 Charles Goodyear invented a machine capable of stitching the welt to the insole, thus revolutionizing the quality of footwear worldwide. Due to its longstanding heritage, little needed maintenance, waterproof durability and clean aesthetic, Goodyear method is highly valued in the high-end shoe market.

Options galor.

Unleash Your Creativity. More than 300 Materials

A vast repository of materials: Suedes, Sartorial Fabrics, Hand Painted Leathers, Handmade Patina Crust, Polished Calfs, Patent Leather... etc. We have partnered with the best leather suppliers in order to provide the best raw materials.

“The patina art craft method is a hand dye-ing procedure of leather, which creates a completely unique patina with an aged effect.”

— Douglas Morgan

The Art of Handmade Patina

Patina is an art crafted and designed for shoes by Olga Berluti, member of the famous French brand Berluti which took the world by storm in the 80’s. Hand coloring of shoes was then a fairly new thing in the world of luxury shoes and leather products

An Antique Finishing Technique for Leathers

The patina art craft method is a hand dyeing procedure of leather, which creates a completely unique patina with an aged effect. The procedure begins with unfinished crust leather, which has been tanned and handled, but not dyed yet.

The artist applies the dyes manually to the uncut hide and the fully assembled shoe, with the usage of white cloths, brushes and sometimes sponges, to create a unique look on each and every pair of shoes. With attentive care and superior savoir-faire, a dedicated craftsman perfects the personality of each pair of shoes, helping forge their special “soul”.

The Patina Artist, a Very Skilled Job

The Patina art craft is still considered to be very young. There are many patina techniques still to be discovered. Very few artists lead this new art, and we are proud to work with the best patina artist in the country.

Discovering new coloring techniques and using secret recipes and materials makes the patina artist job a very skilled and unique one. A good patina artist is able to reproduce a color precisely on demand, and uses it effectively on shoes as also on belts, bags or any other luxury leather goods.

Our Raw Materials.

Leather is the most important building block of each men's shoe, and its production is a process that requires masterful skill. The following rule of thumb holds true for all quality men's shoes: the more the leather has been processed, the higher it is in quality. And this comes, naturally, at a price.

The Leather & the skins.

 

Our calf tanneries come from North West Spain, Germany and Italy.

The types of leather below represent a full array of leather skins. They are all used in luxury shoe production and they differ from the "look" and "texture" point of view.

Painted Calf Leather

Crust calf leather (painted calf) enables artisans to hand paint the pieces with special creams and brushes. The look is very artisanal. Source is Conceria Tolio from Italy (same crust material used by Santoni, Berlutti, Andres Sendra, among many others). Learn more about Conceria Tolio on https://conceriatolio.com/storia/. Raw leathers are then hand painted by our artisans.

Besides the "plain" Painted Calf leather, we also offer it engraved with different textures, like full grain or pebble grain.

Box Calf Leather

The majority of quality men's shoes are made from the hides of calves. Box calf is primarily distinguished by its fineness, pliability, and grain. Box Calf leathers are hand painted by our artisans.

Calf Suede

Also called "Suede" or "Lux Suede". This leather is created from the underside of the animal hide, as a result it is softer, and more supple and can have the appearance of a "furry nap".

Kid Suede

Kid Suede is the most soft, velvety suede leather type which comes from small goat skins. The skins are pretty small which increases the price of leather (consumption per pair). It has a more refined finish with a smaller grain on the surface.

Polished Calf

Polished calf refers to rectified grain calf. This eliminates any skin imperfections. The look is not as natural as a regular, plain full grain, but the look is very good, luxurious. This type of leather is quite expensive because of the post-production processes that it needs at the tannery. Polished Calf Leathers are hand painted by our artisans.

Patent Leather

A type of leather finish whereby the surface is treated to create a highly glossy, shiny appearance.

Nubuck Leather

Lightweight, supple leather made up of the most outer layer of a hide, the surface is buffed to give the grain a light velvety finish called a "nap".

Sartorial Materials

We offer a full array of sartorial fabrics, flannels and velvets. Sartorial patterns like Tweed, Plaid, Tartan, Herringbone, Leopard, etc.

The result of mixing these sartorial materials with classic hand painted leather in a shoe, can be truly astonishing.

Exotic Skins

Alligator Genuine Skin

“Alligator mississippiensis” skin renders a very attractive and fashionable leather. The leather is strong, supple, durable and very expensive. A bony layer within the skin adds a protective shield, while a dimple on each scale makes a very exotic look.

Hailing from the Southeast USA and frequently harvested from farm-bred gators as well as from wild animals, American alligator skin is a classic, durable and versatile leather. The American alligator’s hide is the soft and more pliable material. This is because the skin of this reptile is less bony than the skin of crocodiles. This softness makes the alligator’s skin easier to work with than the skin of other reptiles, making it easier to work with for cutting, stitching and folding.

Ostrich Genuine Skin (As shown in above picture)

Ostrich leather is one of the finest and most durable leathers. It’s a luxurious leather well-known for its softness, flexibility and durability. In spite of its softness, Ostrich leather is unsurpassed for its tactile strength. It is, in fact, one of the strongest leathers available. Naturally occurring oils in the leather contribute to its durability, preventing cracking, even under extreme temperatures and sun exposure.

The main distinguishing feature of ostrich leather is the quill or feather socket markings. The “full quill” area of the leather is the most sought after and therefore the most expensive type of ostrich leather. The quill pattern is the result of large follicles which each contained a feather.

Python Genuine Skin

Snakeskins are very desirable for shoes because of the unique grain, scales, and color patterns. Snakes are skinned in two ways, cut down the belly scales leaving the small scales in the center, “belly” or “front” cut python, and cut down the back leaving the wide belly scale in the center, called “back” cut python. We use the “front” cut python.

The scales were the snakes protection from the elements and are essentially like a callous, dead skin. The size of the scale will vary depending upon the area of the skin cut. The scales have a “lip” open toward the tail will grab and aid the snake in crawling. This lip is your assurance that the snake is genuine.

  • "The Clicking Room" | A Rich Heritage

    The Clicking Department is the first stage of production. The highly skilled Clickers (whose name derives from the ‘click’ sound made when the knife is removed from the leather) use predetermined patterns to intricately cut the shoe’s uppers and linings.

    Today, the department is made with a mixture of experienced hands (some with over 40 years’ experience) and trainees. The younger members begin with cutting the leather linings, leaving the experienced clickers to focus on cutting the upper leather, whilst slowly passing on their years of expertise.

  • A Clicker's Knife

    A Clicker’s knife is totally unique to the Clicker. Each operative design and grind the blade of their knife to their own personal taste and working preference.

    Each clicking blade takes around 15-20 minutes to craft: 5-10 minutes to ‘fetch’ the blade, around 5 minutes to grind and several minutes to perfect the blade on the strop (a piece of wood coated in thick cordovan leather). Although a clicking blade only lasts a few weeks (or even days), the handles can last for decades upon decades.

  • Leather of the Highest Quality

    A Clicker’s main responsibility is to examine the leather for defects and to ensure these are not included in the shoes. Leather defects can be found in the form of barbed wire or disease scars, growth marks or veins. An experienced Clicker needs to be knowledgeable and highly skilled, in order to maximize the usage whilst retaining the utmost quality.

The Douglas Morgan luxury brand was created in 2019 as an affiliate partner of NuRenN, Inc.