How To Polish Your Berluti Shoes

Long before the Berluti brand was purchased by LVMH and entrusted to its current artistic director Alessandro Sartori, there was the Swann Club – an occasional dinner for the Parisian shoemaker’s best customers. It was here that devotees would polish their footwear with Venetian linen dipped in Dom Pérignon champagne.

Sadly the Swann Club is no more but at Berluti, the strict traditions of shoe upkeep remain, making the brand perfect for our introductory guide to keeping your investment shoes looking their shiniest.

Step 1: Clean and Moisturize

Leather is skin and just like your face, in order to keep it looking its best it needs to be cleaned and nourished so that it’s free of blemishes and cracks. First, insert wooden shoetrees to help maintain a good shape, and remove the laces so that you don’t get polish all over them. Remove surface dirt and dust with a horsehair brush and use an old,  soft-bristled toothbrush along the stitching. Using a cotton T-shirt around your index and middle fingers, apply dabs of leather conditioner such as mink oil in steady circular movements, paying attention to the creases created by walking. This movement helps to repair cracks and softens the leather in order to help it better absorb the polish.

Step 2: Apply The Polish

A cream or wax polish helps restore the leather’s natural color and luster that may have been ruined from exposure to the elements. Choose a color that suits your particular shoe – ideally one slightly lighter than the leather so it doesn’t darken the tone. Use the inside of the heel to test your polish color if you’re unsure how the leather will take to it. Take a different piece of T-shirt cotton and apply the polish in the same steady circular movements. Buff the shoes with a horsehair brush and let them dry.

Step 3: Glaze The Leather

If you want to achieve a military shine you’ll need to follow this additional step with a bit of “spit and polish” (or water and wax). Put a little water in the lid of the tin of wax polish and wrap a fresh part of cotton around your forefinger and middle finger to dab. Before you work in the polish, dip your fourth finger into the water and apply a couple of drops to the leather. Aim for minimal wax and minimal water droplets with fast and vigorous polishing strokes. The goal is to fill the leather pores for a smooth glass-like finish and mirrored sheen. Finally, take a piece of nylon and buff the leather to complete the shine. Replace the laces and admire your glossy handiwork.

Berluti’s days of champagne shoe polish may be gone, but you can still uphold the same rigorous routine for keeping your Berluti shoes looking their best.

The first path to any Berluti shoe purchase is knowing how to polish.