{"id":3470,"date":"2026-03-10T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=3470"},"modified":"2026-03-10T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:00:00","slug":"connollys-new-driving-loafer-is-inspired-by-its-automotive-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=3470","title":{"rendered":"Connolly\u2019s New Driving Loafer Is Inspired by Its Automotive Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

British atelier Connolly has teamed up with Spanish shoe designer \u00c1lvaro Gonz\u00e1lez to create an instant classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Connolly<\/div>\n

Connolly represents the zenith of quality in two very different industries. In business for nearly 150 years, the British brand rose to prominence as the foremost supplier of fine leather to the automotive industry (it was the go-to for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for 100 years), and to this day remains the preference for marques including Ferrari and Jaguar. But in recent decades, Connolly has quietly established itself as one of Britain\u2019s leading luxury clothing brands.<\/p>\n

The two sides of the business have rarely overlapped, aside from a few understated design nods to its automotive heritage on leather goods. Its new driving loafer, however, says it out loud.<\/p>\n

\"Connolly
\u00a9Connolly <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe wanted the little details that no one had ever done,\u201d says \u00c1lvaro Gonz\u00e1lez, an old friend of Connolly owner Isabel Ettedgui and a notable shoe designer, with credits at Loro Piana, Valentino, and Jimmy Choo. Discussions between the pair, Gonz\u00e1lez remembers, began two years ago at his archive in Florence, where he presented an edit of random (but pertinent) shoes to Ettedgui to spark inspiration. \u201cIndian moccasins, trainers, Japanese shoes\u2026\u201d he says. \u201cThere were something like 20 very different pieces to start the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also: Why 2026 Is Already the Year of the Tie<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The traditional driving-loafer category is largely owned by one design in particular: Tod\u2019s Gommino. The word means \u2018pebble\u2019 in Italian and refers to the little dots of rubber that serve as the slip-on\u2019s sole. It\u2019s been the cornerstone of the Tod\u2019s business for half a century. But it wasn\u2019t the first. That was by another Italian brand, Car Shoe \u2014 later purchased by Prada \u2014 and very neatly, Ettedgui stocked it at Connolly when she first opened the store three decades ago. She has, she says, had \u201ca bee in my bonnet ever since to create a driving shoe that is really actually comfy to wear when driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Connolly
\u00a9Connolly <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So Gonz\u00e1lez wanted to rework the design, preferring a solid but ultra-thin sole for wear both inside and out of the vehicle, like those you might find on professional racing footwear. \u201cWe use a glove construction that is stitched and turned,\u201d he says. \u201cThe rubber sole is only stitched on the toe and on the heel, so that gives you that flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The toe of the Connolly iteration is almond-shaped, which Gonz\u00e1lez says is more ergonomic than the usual rounded driving loafer. \u201cWhen we started looking at the toe, I was wearing Gucci loafers from 1999, without the horse bit. But it was square, and too \u2018fashion.\u2019 Instead, we wanted a silhouette that you can wear for the next 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Connolly
\u00a9Connolly <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cut from the finest Italian suede and nubuck, with the men\u2019s and women\u2019s versions built on the same last, the shoe\u2019s automotive detailing whispers rather than shouts. The cross-stitching on the vamp is lifted from classic steering-wheel design, and each sole is colored in British Racing Green. But that\u2019s it: no flashy logos, no go-faster stripes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted Connolly to have a shoe that looked like it had been in the brand for the past 50 years,\u201d says Gonz\u00e1lez. \u201cNot something created now, but something timeless that you might find in your parents\u2019 wardrobe.\u201d<\/p>\n

connollyengland.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British atelier Connolly has teamed up with Spanish shoe designer \u00c1lvaro Gonz\u00e1lez to create an instant classic.\u00a0 Connolly represents the zenith of quality in two very different industries. In business for nearly 150 years, the British brand rose to prominence as the foremost supplier of fine leather to the automotive industry (it was the go-to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}