Last month, I was sitting in Staci’s chair, at Globe Salon (as I am, every few weeks), and was reading the then-current issue of AFAR.  My roving eye stopped on an article about these shoes that were essentially a hybrid of a traditional Turkish slip-on and a Doc Martin; the brainchild of Mickey Ashmore, a nice Jewish boy, from Texas.  I was so taken with the shoes and their backstory that I asked if I could tear the article out of the magazine and take it home.

While working in Istanbul for Microsoft, the Penn grad had been given a pair of handcrafted Turkish shoes by the grandmother of a paramour.  The romance morphed into a friendship, but the shoes became his raison d’être.  After he’d moved back to the US to take a job with a NY-based hedge-fund, Ashmore found himself throwing weekly parties that he dubbed “Sabah Sundays” (as a side-gig) to sell the shoes that he’d cleverly devised. 

Mickey had visited Gaziantep – located in the Anatolia region of Turkey – and there, he’d recruited some master craftsmen (members of the families who’ve worked in that ancient bazaar for generations, skillfully creating hand-stitched shoes) to craft his shoes, the Sabahs (“sabah” is the Turkish word for “morning”), from hand-selected and specially-tanned leathers.  By rounding-off the pointed-tip of the traditional Turkish slip-on, shortening the back, and applying a rubber outsole, Ashmore created a hybrid shoe that is not only stylish, but also durable, comfortable, and fun.

Somewhere, in the back of my cluttered head, a Stuben bell was ringing.  So, I hopped online, and found articles about Ashmore and Sabah that had appeared in T: The New York Times Style Magazine, New York Observer, and FDlux (the luxury lifestyles magazine of the Dallas Morning News), as well as a video from GearPatrol.com, and the fog began to lift.  I’d heard of this guy.  Well, sort of…  I’d heard ephemerally about this weekly shindig that went-down at an East Village townhouse, where people could buy shoes or just hang-out and jam.  But I knew nothing about the actual shoes.  

There is no online store, as the company prefers to utilize a grass-roots style of building the conversation.  In this way, Ashmore and Team Sabah are able to maintain personal relationships with their customers (many of whom become friends).  And at a price of $190 per pair, most Sabah owners become Sabah collectors in fairly short order; posting pics on Instagram, wearing their Sabahs all over the world.

So, I went to the website, and clicked the link for the Catalogue and Ordering Guide.  And while I kinda wanted everything that I saw, I wanted something really special for my inaugural Sabah, so I decided to peruse Ashmore’s Instagram feed (@TheSabahDealer), and it was there that I saw them.  “The June” was inspired by a friend of the brand, and is navy blue with bright orange piping.  The minute I saw them pictured on Instagram, I knew that “The June” would be my gateway Sabah.

Since “The June” is not a regularly stocked item (yes Dad, I ordered something that wasn't on the menu – what else is new?); and as the East Village isn’t as proximate to Las Vegas as I’d like; and because I’m new to Sabah sizing, I utilized the Sabah Well Program, wherein they had two pairs made for me in consecutive sizes.  Then, when my box arrived, I tried-on both pairs, and (having chosen the pair that fit better), placed the pair that didn’t fit back into the box, applied the enclosed shipping label, and called UPS to come and pick it up.  Easy peasy! 

I’m looking forward to wearing the bejesus outta them, while in Hawaii, for the holidays.  If they hold-up half as well as I expect them to, I’ll be ordering more, upon my return.  And with any luck, when they're on their way through town, in 2016; we can convince Team Sabah to set-up shop, in Las Vegas, for a few days. 

Sabah
Click HERE for Cataloge and Ordering Info

Get into it!
#ThisIsHowWeSabah