Authentication
How to spot an authentic pair
Counterfeits have solved the logo. They have not solved the stitch count, the edge paint or the way lambskin behaves under pressure.
The best fakes on the market today are photographed better than the originals. They get the logo right, the box right, the dustbag right and the receipt right. What they consistently fail is the part of the shoe that costs money to make correctly.
Start with the sole, not the logo
Turn the pair over. Genuine leather soles are finished in stages — sanded, sealed and edge-painted — and the transition between sole and upper is sharp with no seepage. Counterfeit edge paint is thick, glossy and rolls slightly over the leather because it was applied in one pass.
Stitch count and tension
Count the stitches across a fixed span — a centimetre is enough. Authentic production is consistent pair to pair and shoe to shoe; copies vary within the same shoe. Look particularly where the vamp meets the quarter, and where a strap is anchored: tension changes there reveal hand-finishing that fakes skip.
How the leather behaves
Press lambskin with a thumb and release it. Genuine lambskin recovers slowly and unevenly; coated substitutes snap back or crease into a hard line. Suede should have direction — a nap that changes colour as you sweep it. Embossed calf should show grain variation across the panel, never a repeating pattern.
Stamps, and why they are the last check
Interior stamps, size markings and date codes matter, but they are the most-copied element and therefore the least diagnostic on their own. We read them last, against reference pairs from the same production year — a font that is correct for 2019 is wrong for 2023.
If a pair passes the logo and fails the sole, it is not a good fake. It is a fake.
Every pair in the Salon goes through these checks before it is photographed, and carries a lifetime authenticity guarantee afterwards.
