Anna Murphy from The Times expresses her love for The Foundation Flat in Black Shearling: 

"What sent me into an orbit these week? These shearling pumps from ESSEN, a boutique shoe brand that is a favourite with the fashion pack, they are just so good. 

The brand calls them an architectural ballet flat, I call them heaven. Comfy. Incredibly flattering in terms of shape and the cut on the foot, even on feet as wide as mine. And did I mention they were shearling? Delicious. Not one for rain or mud. Definitely for us city dwellers. But utterly delicious. And there has to be some upside to living in a city in which you can't really do anything at the moment. 

Not, alas, that they're available this very minute. Although there is an admirable reason for this. ESSEN largely follows the so-called pre-order model that many more savvy, not to mention soulful small fashion operations have been adopting in recent years. What this means is that it produces only in response to demand, which in turn ensures that it only produces what it sells, thus minimising waste and overproduction. It works with family-run, solar-powered factories in Italy, Portugal and Spain. 

The same style comes in a total of eight different colours, some (the more restrained like black or tan) are available now, others - red or silver - available to pre-order). All ESSEN shoes are handmade and the quality is superlative. If you are looking for something with a tad more heft for winter, I also rate the still-sleek oxford lace-up and loafer, in black only." 

We're so flattered, thank you Anna!