From shoes to small goods, HALO leads with strong design — and a little more besides.
Founded in 2010, 〈HALO magic〉 makes leather shoes alongside a broad range of leather small goods — belts, smartphone cases and more. What catches the eye first is the brand's original design language: a line-up that is just a little different from anyone else's, full of pieces that can give an outfit its own character. Every one is handled by Yamazaki Ken alone, and the care goes well beyond design — every detail aims to bring out the full appeal of the leather.
Starting training to make the kind of things he wanted to use himself.
Yamazaki-san is the third generation of his family's shoemaking business, which began with his grandfather. He started his training at twenty, under his father.
"I originally started training because I wanted to make casual shoes I'd actually wear myself — but my father's work was elegant women's footwear, so I couldn't learn the full range of men's-shoe construction from him. Still, he gave me the basics of shoemaking, and from there I taught myself by studying lots of different leathers and methods. Men's shoes are different from women's — you have to give them a hand-made feel, which was tricky too. But being able to use the leather I like and design the shoes I like was really enjoyable." Refining his technique through trial and error, he launched the unisex brand HALO in 2010.
Original designs paired with carefully chosen, high-quality materials.
HALO's very first product was a dog collar — designed so the founder could use it for his own dog. Layered, stitched leather, studs and perforations gave it an original character that is still part of HALO's signature today. The flower-inspired decoration adds an airy elegance, and the meaning embedded in the design is the idea of a flower blooming from seed. "I'm always conscious of designs that don't overlap with anyone else," he says. "It's not just simple leather work — the design uses leather to express something. Whether accessories or shoes, I love watching leather develop a patina over time, so I choose materials with that in mind." That care for design and for leather is partly rooted, it seems, in his time studying in Italy.
Making that draws on the natural character of leather.
At 26, he travelled to Italy to study leather-shoemaking. The foreign setting brought discoveries he could never have made at home — among them this one: "It was the level of attention Japanese craftspeople bring to their work. I was just doing what my father had taught me, and yet I was being told I was one of the best in class. It made me see again how meticulous Japanese workmanship is." He also came to know the differences between Japan and Italy in how leather goods are valued: "Take an example — when you make 100 pairs of shoes, Japan aims for absolute uniformity, whereas in Italy each one comes out slightly different. In Italy that individuality is celebrated, but here it isn't tolerated. Italians work to draw out the natural beauty of leather, and so each pair ends up its own thing. I agree with that — coating the surface so every pair is identical strips the work of its interest. It's far more interesting to make shoes that bring out the character of each piece of leather. That mindset runs through HALO too, and I tell our clients up front that this is how we work. That's why I'm so passionate about materials: I'm out in Asakusa constantly, I go to Italy to source leather, and HALO only uses leather I personally think is good. Using the same leather across everything gives you something safe, but Italy taught me a love of design, and I want to keep taking on the challenge of expressing the character of each leather."
Pursuing fit — the single most important quality in any shoe.
HALO's shoes aren't only about design and material — fit is pursued by hand-shaping the last. "However good a design looks, if the last isn't right the shoe won't last," Yamazaki-san says. "That's why I want to express fit even better." Several times a year he and his father hold fitting workshops, measuring real feet to make custom lasts and showing the difference that a single millimetre makes — sessions that have been well received by the craftspeople who attend. "Most shoes on the market today are built on European lasts. Their sharp lines look stylish, but European feet have a different bone structure from Asian feet, so the comfort suffers. That's why I rework the last and design ones that still look great on Asian feet." With design, materials and last all built without compromise, HALO's leather shoes let you enjoy fashion comfortably. Yamazaki-san's care shows in how the shoes look and how they feel — and through the brand you come to know the appeal of leather more deeply.
