Wear, Care, Repair

Unlike most fashion footwear on the market these days, Kuwaii shoes are made to last you much longer than just one season. We are very proud of the quality of our footwear. The way we make our shoes is complicated, time-consuming and takes a lot of patience, skill and care. When you purchase a pair of Kuwaii shoes, you are making a real investment in your wardrobe – one that we hope you’ll be happy about for many years to come. In Kuwaii shoes we use only the very best full grain leathers, trims and materials, knowing that a well-constructed shoe can be resoled, is more comfortable over time and can last and last.  Much like any other important relationship in your life, giving your shoes a little time, attention and love will help them stay in their best condition, and will keep them by your side season after season.

Wear

Here’s our expert tips to keep your footwear looking fabulous over the years. We recommend applying these tips to all your shoes to get the maximum life from them:

• Prevention is better than cure – see to your shoes promptly if they need maintenance or repair.
• Take care of the sole. Do not let the gum wear into the sole material.
• Weatherproof your shoes often.
• Don’t over-wear your shoes. We recommend having three pairs on rotation.
• Don’t ride your bike in our shoes.
• Store your shoes lovingly - use a shoe tree or stuffing to preserve shape.
• Condition and polish the leather at least once per season – 4 times a year.
• Always undo the fastening before removing your shoes.
• Waterproof your shoes once per season – 4 times a year.

Care

Caring for your footwear used to be a weekly routine back in the old days. Since Fast Fashion has come along, the routine and ritual of the footwear care has been partially lost, and we have found that sometimes customers don’t realise that a special pair of high quality shoes requires a little maintenance to keep them at their best.

Leather Care

Leather is a beautiful material, but it’s also a natural product that once belonged to a living animal. This means that each piece of leather, and every Kuwaii shoe, is unique. Even shoes that are made from the same hide will have slight differences in the leather, which can become more noticeable as the leather wears over time.

Use a conditioning cream at least once a season, applied with a soft clean cloth and massaged in, then buffed off with a shoe brush. We sell a small selection of trusted footwear care products in our stores and online.

Waterproofing

Spray your shoes with a high-quality water-repellent once per season too.
We will happily waterproof your Kuwaii shoes for you at any Kuwaii store.

If your Kuwaii shoes get wet, let them dry naturally and put some scrunched up newspaper inside them to help them keep their shape. Never dry your shoes in front of a heater or fan as this could warp the leather.

Suede Care

Spray with a protector often, and brush with a suede brush to remove any dirt and revive the suede. If your suede shoes are particularly dirty or looking in bad shape, try giving them a gentle steam clean. Hold your shoes above the steam from a kettle for a few seconds, and then gently brush with a suede brush.

Rest

We all need a break sometimes. Your shoes need rest time between wears, too – it gives them a chance to aerate and relax back into shape, and stops them from wearing out too fast. We recommend that you have at least three pairs of shoes on rotation. This is a major factor in prolonging the life of your footwear.

Sole Care

Even the toughest soles wear out. Streets are rough, and if you wear your shoes often – especially in a wet city like Melbourne – you’ll need to re-sole them when they show signs of wearing down. Please make sure your shoes are maintained with a new gum sole or “Topy” before the sole protector has worn into the material below so that we can have the best chance of repairing them.

Repair

We want you to get as much wear out of your shoes as possible, so we are proud to offer an in-house repair service.

Due to Health and Safety guidelines we cannot take any dirty or odorous shoes for repair. Please ensure your shoes are deodorised and cleaned properly before bringing them for repair, our staff will not accept any unclean shoes into our repair program. Our footwear repairs can take up to 4 weeks.

Our in-house repair program for your Kuwaii shoes includes the following:

• Re-stitch broken seam – from $25
• Re-glue sole coming away from upper – from $45
• Replace pink gum – full sole from $129
• Replace pink gum – heel pieces from $59

The price will increase if shoes are in poor condition. Price will be quoted in this case.

For any repairs need that are not on the above list, we recommend taking your shoe to a trusted local cobbler or shoe repairer close to you – see our list of trusted cobblers, which we are adding to frequently:

Condellos
Barkly Square, Brunswick, (03) 9387 8286

Shoe Guy
Northcote Plaza, Northcote, (03) 9482 9200

Evans Quality Shoe Repairs
Royal Arcade, Melbourne, (03) 9650 2405

Uno’s Mode Expert Tailoring & Shoe Repairs
Collins St, Melbourne, 0438 010 613

On The Mend
Nicholson Street, Fitzroy, (03) 9939 5483

We are always happy to give further information about our repair policies, so please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions, or if you have a trusted cobbler to add to our list, at contact@kuwaii.com.au

Warranty

We value our customers and the integrity of our products, and are happy to offer a six-month warranty on any manufacturing faults or defects. In the rare case that a manufacturing fault arises, we will repair your shoes free of charge. However, this will not apply if the damage is caused by overwear or overuse – we expect our customers to care for their shoes with the same careful attention we give to their design and manufacture.

We are always happy to give further information about our warranty and repair policies, so please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions on contact@kuwaii.com.au.