Five Fits With: Steven Taffel, Owner of High-End Shoe Store Leffot
If you’re into menswear and you’ve shopped in New York, you’ve probably encountered the iconic shoe store, Leffot. This week’s subject is Steven Taffel, the shop’s founder and owner. “I came to New York in 1989 from Beverly Hills,” says Taffel. He worked at Bottega Veneta for a decade, followed by a long stint at Prada. But in 2007, just after his 50th birthday, he was laid off in a restructuring. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do? I'm 50. I've got kids,’” he says. As it happens, what he’d do is open up one of the best high-end shoe stores in the city, which is still going strong today.
I’ve just recently gotten to know Steven, having met him through our mutual friend Gianluca Migliarotti, and while I didn’t know much about him, I’d only ever seen him dressed elegantly. Leffot is a reflection of his taste level, and frankly, he’s the sort of subject this series was forged for. Below, Taffel and I discuss opening Leffot and getting attention from a few early blogstars, shopping on a budget versus investing in expensive shoes, building an outfit with various footwear choices, and plenty more.
Fit One
Tell me about the early days of Leffot.
I found this space by chance. I was walking around in the Village and saw this toy store with a sign out front that it was for lease because the guy was retiring. We got the store in the fall of '07, signed the lease beginning of '08, and we opened in May of '08, not long before the financial crisis. It was bare bones. We had no other product except a table of shoes. I don't know what I was thinking. We didn't really have a website. There wasn't any e-commerce. It was just word of mouth. There were a few men's blogs—stuff like Ask Andy About Clothes and Style Forum. A week after I opened, this young guy comes in. He's got a camera on, and he says, “I really like the store. Can I take some photos? I have a blog." Blogs were kind of new then, so I wasn’t following. He introduces himself. His name is Scott, and he tells me about his blog, and he puts it on his blog. The next thing I know, people started coming in, "I saw you on The Sartorialist," and that was instant help, which was incredible. About a month later, a British customer came in, and he was very interested in shoes, particularly in Corte. He said, "I just started this blog." We chatted for a while, he bought a pair of shoes, and it was Simon Crompton of Permanent Style. Those two chance things happened and it really helped a lot.
Fit Two
What, if anything, about the store has changed since you opened it?
The website was a big change in terms of the business because when I started, I had a website but it wasn't e-commerce. The guy who developed the site said, "You should write a blog,” so I started writing one pretty religiously. Every day I'd take some really bad photos and I'd go home in the evening and write this blog post, whatever it was. Once our operations manager Paul Habeeb joined, we started doing e-commerce, so that was a big evolution. What's changed is the fact that we've added a lot more product and we've changed many brands. It's rotated over 15 years. There are brands that we started working with during the pandemic, like Joseph Cheaney, which was a nice addition, and it's a different price point. The pandemic was a big shift, and we had to be a little bit more flexible. I started boxing in the summer of 2021, and it just changed my life. I wanted to make a logo T-shirt, so I asked Paul, "Do you think you can make Leffot in the Everlast font?" I made a tee for myself, just to have, through a website. One thing led to another, then I made a few others, and we made some caps. Now we have this Leffot boxing collection.
We try to keep it shoes and things that I like. I like traditional style and quality, and I like to work directly with the manufacturers. That's kind of the basis, but then things can always adapt to something interesting. I'm always keeping an eye out, but I'm pretty happy with the collection as it is.
Fit Three
Why should someone shop for shoes at a store like Leffot versus something more budget-friendly like Meermin or Morjas?
There's nothing wrong with shopping at those stores if that's what your budget is and you like the style. Eventually, those guys will be more curious about other brands like an Alden or eventually an Edward Green. What we have is shoes that are made to last. You’re investing in footwear that you're going to have for a long time, so it’s going to look great, it’s going to feel great, and it’s going to perform well. You're spending the money up front, but over time that's the value.
Can you pick three pairs of shoes you think every man should have in his wardrobe?
I think everybody should have a dress shoe. This of course depends on your lifestyle. But three classic styles that serve well are the oxford, like a cap-toe oxford, a loafer—obviously loafers are very popular today, especially since the pandemic—and for winter, it’s always nice to have some type of a nice boot. And—well, this wouldn't be three—then a derby, a shoe that's a little bit more casual that can be dressed up or down. It could be a wingtip or plain toe or split toe, but a derby that's a little bit less formal. This pretty much covers all your situations. This is excluding sneakers, which everybody has.
Fit Four
How do you build an outfit? Do you start with footwear, or does footwear come last as an accent?
No, I don't start with footwear, but I usually envision what footwear would go with something. Some of the things that I'm going to wear today that I had made most recently, like this linen suit, I just saw the fabric and thought it was beautiful. I loved that for summer. I could envision how I could put a shoe with it. It wasn't like, "I have a shoe, and I need something to go with this." I have a lot of shoes, so that's the fun part for me. I can always think of something. I could take an outfit and I could put three or four different shoes with it. It changes the look entirely. If you have a suit and you have an oxford with it and you're wearing a shirt and a tie, that's one look. But if you're wearing it without a tie and you're putting it with a loafer, it becomes a different look.
Has your personal style changed much since owning your own store?
My personal style is pretty classic, but in 15 years, things always change; styles change. Not to say that I don't like to wear some colors, but for the most part, in summer I'll wear pretty classic polos and chinos. Still the classical style, but more current, whatever the season or the year or the color is. But I'm not really wearing anything that's super streetwear or very avant-garde per se. Sometimes something is a little more avant-garde, but I’ll pair it with a classic piece.
Fit Five
Do you have any do’s and don'ts about pairing certain footwear with certain fabrics or garments?
One thing I don't like, and this is a personal thing, is sandals. I see sandals as a type of footwear that you wear to the beach or the pool or in the country. I don't know why anyone would want to wear sandals in Manhattan. The other thing that I really don't like the look of is when I see guys dressed formally, let's say in a suit or even a tux, and they're wearing loafers without socks. I think it's not cool. It's just like, "Why not? Wear the socks." It's like not wearing your shirt. I think guys are going to look back in 10 years and go, "What was I thinking? Why didn't I wear socks?"
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
Oh my gosh. One outfit for the rest of my life? It would probably be something comfortable. If it had to be a uniform then in a sense, it would probably be a pair of khaki trousers that have a nice cut to them, in a beige color that's very versatile, and some type of button-down shirt, like a light blue or striped button down. I probably would wear a pair of Edward Green Dovers, which is one of my favorites.
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