About Otabo

After three decades of manufacturing and inventing for other brands, Otabo has set out to create the shoes that we’ve always wanted to make. Shoes that are handmade with classic craftsmanship and all natural materials that last.

We are passionate about what we do, and in every role, believe in building love, lasting relationships, and meaningful work.

Our family is led by Howard Shaffer, who is the lead designer and shoemaker for the collection. He is joined by the rest of the family, taking roles in other areas of the business.

Thanks for stopping by,

Howard, Sabrina, Ryan, Chris and our gang

Our specs

Otabo is pronounced, O•tah•bow

Every pair of shoes in the Otabo Collection is handmade by our top-level craftsman.

Lasts are developed in-house with our custom fit department, Italian last makers and leading biomechanists in the US to achieve a superior aesthetic and fit. Exclusive to our collection, lasts are not purchased from a library and not available to private label or OEM production.

Leathers are hand waxed, custom dyed and burnished using small batch crust leathers. Each pair is cut from a single hide. Master Cutters use the best and most appropriate parts of the hide for each specific pattern piece to help ensure that the shoes will hold their shape and wear well over time.

Each layer of the upper is hand-lasted, one at a time starting with the lining, then skived reinforcements and finally the outermost layer of upper leather.

Full leather linings are supple soft, but very strong and tanned to last. Heel piece is sueded to prevent slippage.

Fiberglass shanks are hand-laid, and heat contoured on to each individual pair for a custom fit, unlike traditional steel shanks which are pre-shaped for mass production. Fiberglass shanks are also more lightweight and stronger than traditional steel shanks.

Outsoles are individually cut from leather bends and hand welted, a painstaking process generally reserved for bespoke shoemaking. Multi-strand linen treads are unraveled and pulled through beeswax, then hand-sewn at a tight 6mm from stitch to stitch. The insole-outsole cavity of each shoe is filled with housemade natural cork.

Heel to toe sockliners are cushioned with a soft, resilient, orthopedic-grade closed cell padding.

Finally, each pair of Otabo shoes is hand finished – from uppers to outsole bottoms to edge finishing – with plenty of elbow grease.